After All
by Gleebull
Summary: Rachel, Santana and Kurt are living in New York, it is the start of a new year and as they are trying to keep on with their lives, three unexpected visits change not only their relationships, but their future. Cannon to the finale of Season 4. What Season 5 should be like, so just New York and no Lima. FInchel/Brittana/Klaine based.
1. Chapter 1

Hello!

For those who don't know me, I normally write Heya stories, but I decided to do something for everyone and something that wont get taken down like my last fic. I'm one of those weird fans that ship all three couples and were insanely dissapointed with season 4, so this is my spin on how season 5 should be. So just New York and our three favorite couples. I will post one chapter weekly and if you're lucky, maybe 2. There will be around 12 chapters so, by the end of August this will be done more or less. I can assure you from the start that there will be NO breakups (we are all tired of RIB's shit, I know) so just friendships and finding romance again between the couples. Thank you for those interested enough to read this and especially to those who leave a kind word or a suggestion. They are always appreciated. So, have fun and recommend it if you like it, I'll try to voice all your opinions so be free to leave a review or PM me. You can also tweet me gleebull if you have something to say.

One more thing, the breaks between the paragraphs are to divide scenes, but when they are singing, it's the same scene just different places. Think about it like it were a musical number on Glee, they can be on different places singing but its the same scene. When there's a change to New York, then it changes scene. Hope it's not too confusing.

Thanks again, see you next week!

* * *

[After All]

Chapter 1

In the noisy streets below, a couple of cars honked their horns and the morning sounds were heard faintly through the closed windows of the apartment. It was just past seven, but in New York, nothing ever stayed quiet. Despite the yelling of a man a couple of blocks away and a truck's noise when it went in reverse, the apartment was quiet as the last days of summer granted a couple more hours of sleep. It was a Sunday in the midst of August and although they would have to do things later, right now their dreams were more important. Rachel, Kurt and Santana remained fast asleep, at least for one more hour until the inevitable getting up had to be done.

* * *

Blaine was closing up his last suitcase as he gazed at his now somewhat empty room. He was going to miss it, Lima, his parents and just feeling like a boy. But it was time to become a man and follow his dreams. It was time to go after Kurt and make sure that he didn't ruin it this time. A strange kind of melancholy filled his body, and as he looked at the walls that once had had posters on them, he knew he didn't belong here anymore. He had said the same thing to Kurt a year before, and now it was time for him to do it too.

"If you were here beside me,

Instead of in New York.

If the curve of you is curved on me.

I'd tell you that I loved you,

Before I ever knew you

'Cause I love the simple thought of you."

Blaine grabbed his suitcase and threw his bag over his shoulder and walked out of his room, just looking back to turn the light off.

* * *

It was still early but he felt that he couldn't sleep anymore. He sat in his bed and rolled his eyes at Puck's loud snores. Finn got dressed and walked out of his dorm and into the cool early morning on campus. He started walking around with his hands in his jeans' pockets and kept his eyes ahead. He liked being in college but every day that passed he kept thinking if this was the right university for him. He'd never left home because he was too much of a home boy to do it. But after everything that passed that last year, he felt that maybe it was time to do it.

He had filed the paperwork and it was just a waiting game now. At first it was an impulse on a day where he had particularly missed her a lot. But today, he felt that he had made the right choice. Even in the serene scene that was before him and the tranquility that flowed through the Lima College gardens, he felt wide awake and oddly, out of place. He didn't know if what he had decided was one-hundred percent the option for him, but he knew that his world just didn't really work without her.

"If our hearts are never broken,

And there's no joy in the mending,

There's so much this hurt can teach us both.

There's distance and there's silence,

Your words have never left me.

They're the prayer that I say every day."

A lot had passed that last year, some ups and some downs. They had said that they wouldn't talk anymore, because it hurt too much. But every time they saw each other, that invisible tether pulled them together. They would always be in each other's life and that was why Finn knew he had to do this.

"Come on, come out, come here, come here."

* * *

"The lone neon nights and the ache of the ocean,

And the fire that was starting to spark.

I miss it all, from the love to the lightning,

And the lack of it snaps me in two."

Blaine looked outside his window in the car as his dad approached the entrance of the airport. There was no turning back now, but he had never been more ready to do anything.

* * *

She turned to her side and looked at her nightstand's photograph. She felt ache in her chest as the bright smiles in the picture made her recall the fact that she wasn't hers anymore. Brittany suddenly remembered those days two months ago when she had felt so lost. She thought that MIT was the option for her because it seemed like such a great opportunity, but as every other thing in her life, it had all been decided for her. Everything except her. Nobody had made her want to love her that much, that was all her. Nobody had made her want to leave MIT, it was all her.

It was a great opportunity and she knew that she was extremely lucky to be where she had been, and that maybe she would regret it someday. Nonetheless, Brittany was completely certain that she would have regretted more not even thinking about fighting for Santana.

"If you were here beside me,

Instead of in New York.

In the arms you said you'd never leave.

I'd tell you that it's simple,

And it was only ever thus.

There is nowhere else that I belong."

And now as she lay on her Lima bed, she felt lost again. Her parents had been really mad when she told them that she was dropping out of MIT. They asked what she was going to do then, and when she answered that she didn't know for sure, the disapproving stares appeared. Her professors at MIT had expected so much from her and had wanted answers right away. When she left McKinley she told the Glee Club that she was thankful that people finally were believing in her. But that didn't mean that they understood her. Only ever had one person understood her truly. And right now, that person was who she felt the furthest away from.

"Come on, come out, come here, come here."

* * *

Finn kept walking in the almost deserted gardens because of the time it was and saw that the Admissions and Transfers office was just opening. He quickened his pace as he kept singing.

"The lone neon nights and the ache of the ocean,

And the fire that was starting to spark."

* * *

"I miss it all from the love to the lightning,

And the lack of it snaps me in two."

Blaine kept singing with a nervous and excited look as he saw the New York skyline from the plane.

* * *

Even though Brittany, Blaine and Finn were in three different places, the longing they felt was similar. And while each were in different positions, last year had taught them that second chances were rare and if they were granted one, they needed to take it.

"Just give me a sign.

There's an end and not beginning,

To the quiet chaos driving me mad."

Brittany didn't know what she was going to do yet; she needed time to think about things, despite her mind being clear of any thoughts except Santana.

Finn looked at an envelope in his hands and as he opened it and read over what it said, a surprised look formed in his face. Lima College had been a nice place, but NYU would be his new home.

"The lone neon nights and the walls of the ocean,

And the fire that is starting to go out."

The short boy unbuckled his seatbelt and got his bag, ready to walk out into New York.

* * *

"Santana will you pass me the cereal please?" Rachel Berry asked to the Latina girl that was sitting in front of her still in pajamas.

She passed it along and said, "Kurt will you stop pacing around, you're making me nervous".

The very well groomed 19 year old stopped and turned to look at Santana, "How does it affect you?"

"Because you're exhausting to look at! It's just _him_, nothing bad is gonna happen!" Santana exclaimed.

"Santana-" Rachel intervened knowing it was a sore topic.

Kurt stopped and exhaled, "I know it's just him. But it's…"

"It's what, Kurt?" Santana replied. When she saw his hesitation she said, "Whatever is on your mind, you can tell us, we are here for you. I know I always come off strong, but that's just my way of caring" she turned and looked at Rachel looking for approval.

Rachel smiled at her and said, "She's right, Kurt. You can tell us".

"After I left Lima in May, we were at a different place, and at least it looked like we could be friends again. But after I left, everything just went weird, he didn't insist on me staying like before and his texts where kind of off. And when I thought that maybe he was moving on, he told me that he had gotten into NYADA and that he was moving here." Kurt explained, regaining his pacing around.

"Maybe he was just nervous at NYADA's entry process; do you remember how we were? Everybody hated us!" Rachel said.

"Yeah, you were totally annoying" Santana added.

"Yes, maybe. But when I was there I kept thinking that he wanted to do something or, ask me something. He would get all nervous and careful about what he said, and then he would say nothing. And we know that it isn't like Blaine to be like that" Kurt pointed out.

"What if he was just practicing for his audition or something? Maybe it was a Warbler form of role-play!" Santana sarcastically said.

Rachel turned to look at her and mouthed a 'what the f' while Kurt just stared at her. Santana shrugged and Rachel shook her head and continued. "Anyway, Kurt, not everyone is as well rounded as you are."

"What do you mean?" Kurt asked confused.

"You adapt well to changes and not everybody is that lucky. From what I know about Blaine, he's not that excited about change. I mean, I remember the Whitney Houston week when he was all worked up because he was going to miss you when you went to New York. And then you stayed there, but then you left and then you guys broke up. What he did aside, it hasn't been an easy year for him either."

"Kurt, have you ever considered that he may still feel guilty about what he did?" Santana asked.

"I know he does, but what am I supposed to do? He cheated on me! What kind of person cheats!" Kurt raised his voice. Rachel and Santana looked at each other uncomfortably and Kurt realized this. "You know I didn't mean it like that."

"No, you're right. Cheating is something that shouldn't even cross anyone's mind. Unfortunately sometimes it does and the sad part is that we don't own up to it before we do it to realize how much it can hurt who you love" Rachel's words were filled with guilt.

"I think that you need to find that moment in the relationship with that person, and after that you don't even think about it." Santana said quietly.

"I don't understand" Kurt said much softer.

"From my own experience, cheating was no big deal. Because I never cared about the guys I was dating or hooking up with. But despite that, I knew that I was kind of cheating on Brittany. Even though we weren't anything yet. It was my defense mechanism because I wasn't being honest about who I was. After I accepted it and Britt and I had a serious relationship, I couldn't even think about it. Nothing else mattered, because no matter how lonely I felt or how tempted I was, I knew that to me it would mean nothing. But the hurt I would have caused Brittany, would have been huge."

"So, are you saying that Blaine didn't love me enough to not know how much pain it would cause me?" Kurt said tangled.

"No, I'm saying that Blaine hadn't been to that stage yet. I cheated on more times I could count, but it was that moment of feeling completely alone and betrayed because Brittany had chosen someone else over me; that made me realize that if I ever had the chance to be with her, I wouldn't do anything to make her feel like I did. I knew that how I felt, was probably how she felt when I refused to acknowledge that I was in love with her. And no amount of instant relief would ease my burden or erase the fact that she was the most important person in my life."

Santana said and then added, "Of course that was all before I broke up with her, and then it all went to hell". Kurt blinked at the abruptness of the comment, but it was Santana after all.

"When did that happen Santana? When did Brittany chose someone else over you, are you talking about Sam?" Rachel asked intrigued.

"That's a long story. Kurt's problem is our priority right now" Santana answered dismissively.

"What I'm saying is that Blaine, now has that moment were he realized that he will never do it again. The hurt of seeing your rejection after that, was more than enough for him to do it again. And I think that this is part of why he moved to New York, but it must not be easy for him. Especially after you had very clearly stated that you are 'just friends'." Santana continued, "Even though you totally hooked up at the wedding". Kurt's cheeks turned slightly pink after the last comment.

"I think we're getting off track here" Rachel said. "Kurt, you know that he's sorry for it and that he is trying to make amends, but have _you_ forgiven him?" There was silence.

"I guess I… He really hurt me and up until Thanksgiving I was stubborn about the fact that I couldn't forgive him. But then I just knew that if I wanted to ever move on, I need to accept his apology at least. But we are Kurt and Blaine; it isn't that easy to just move on, you know?" Kurt said.

"Yeah we do" Rachel chuckled and looked at Santana who nodded.

"Kurt, just see where he's at right now. Nobody is saying anything about getting back together, he is just gonna crash here for a short while, I hope" Santana lifted her eyebrows in a witty way to which Rachel laughed. "Until he gets sorted out and adjusts to living in a new city. You are his friend and are there for him. Put everything that happened last year aside, and focus on at least regaining your friendship. Because like you said, what you two have is not that easy to move on from."

Kurt looked more convinced than before while he nodded. "You guys are right. I should stop worrying about every single detail and go one step at a time."

"And that step right now is to go pick him up at the airport, and you're running late" She looked at the clock. "Hurry, go get dressed!"

Kurt turned around and was already towards his room when he said, "Thank you. I really don't know what I would do without you both".

"Probably die" Santana said in a monotone voice as she looked at her cereal. Kurt shook his head and smiled and went to get dressed.

* * *

Maybe it was his nerves, but Blaine thought that people had never been this slow to pick up their bags and walk out of the airport. Pacing around impatiently he spotted his blue suitcase and rushed through people to rapidly get it. After practically running and a few judging stares from people he pushed by, he managed to make it out of baggage claim and into the meeting point. With his bag over his shoulder, his eyes focused on everything around him, trying to spot the guy who made his heart skip a beat. Desperately searching, he suddenly caught a glimpse of a very well groomed and high hair. There he was, standing with his arms crossed over his chest and one of his feet leaning on the column behind him. With sunglasses in his face, Kurt waited for Blaine and hadn't spotted him yet.

Blaine smiled brightly at him and everything around him faded, all the rush to get to him and the exhaustion of the trip, disappeared and it was only Kurt. He was finally where he was meant to be.

He walked towards Kurt after he called him out. Kurt reacted to the sound of his own name and finally saw Blaine. He took off his sunglasses and smiled warmly at the boy who despite his constant inner struggle, he still loved.

"Hi" Kurt said.

"Hey" Blaine replied and smiled. He reached over, purely by instinct and hugged him. They had hugged after the break-up and it felt short and awkward, and this time Kurt gladly squeezed back and stayed there. It felt nice and normal, as if there wasn't a wall between them anymore.

"I'm so glad you're here" Kurt said softly still in the hug.

"Me too" Blaine agreed. They separated and Kurt picked up his suitcase.

"So, let's get you home." Even though it was a simple sentence, it meant the world to Blaine, it meant that Kurt was opening him his home, and calling it theirs. Maybe it was just a figure of speech, but maybe, just maybe this could be the start of something new. Or rather, the new start of something already known and special.

* * *

"Blaine it's so nice to see you! I haven't seen you since the musical, last year!" Rachel said while she hugged him in the entrance of the apartment.

"Yeah it's been a while" Blaine greeted her.

"Santana, how are you?" Blaine left Rachel and went to Santana. "I've been fine, Blaine Warbler" she replied not even bothering to get up from the couch. So Blaine just waved while Kurt rolled his eyes at her.

"Come in!" Rachel politely said. "How was your trip?"

"It was fine. Didn't have a smelly woman next to me, like last time. So I'll call that progress" he said cheerfully. Everyone except Santana laughed at that.

"Do you want something to drink?" Kurt said from the kitchen.

"Um… yeah, water would be great" he replied. Kurt opened the refrigerator and got out a bottle of water and walked towards the living room to give it to Blaine, who had seated on the couch next to Santana. He opened it and took a sip.

"I was telling Blaine on the way here, that he needs to go see the city, get the New Yorker vibe going on!" Kurt said and sat down on the arm chair of the couch.

"New Yorker vibe?" Santana laughed. "Seriously?"

"You haven't been to the tourist places?" Rachel asked, ignoring Santana.

"I've only been here twice, once when I was little with my family but it was a long time ago and I don't even remember half the things I saw. And last year when I came to visit Kurt, but we all know how that ended up, so…" He awkwardly finished.

Santana gladly stepped in to ease the tension, "Where haven't you been yet?"

"I didn't get to go to Ground Zero or to see the Brooklyn Bridge. Oh, and I'd love to go see a Broadway show!" He said excitedly.

"Oh, you are going to have to wait for that one, we've got it covered" Kurt said with a smile. "You are going to see no other else than Ms. Rachel Berry's debut on Broadway!" Kurt applauded excitedly.

"That's right, I heard about that! Congratulations Rachel!" Blaine leaned over and hugged her. "I always knew that being the perfect Maria in _West Side Story_ would only be the start."

"Thank you Blaine, someday I hope to share the stage with you" Rachel smiled.

"It would be an honor. So, when is the big opening?" Blaine asked.

"Next Friday" she replied.

"It's getting close! Are you nervous?"

"I think that's the understatement of the century" Rachel laughed. "I'm so nervous I can't see straight".

"Rachel, relax. You are going to _kill_ it" Santana squeezed her knee and smiled.

"With you guys here, I know I will" Rachel said and leaned her head against Santana's affectionately.

"So, Brooklyn Bridge? Let's get going!" Kurt said and everybody stood up to go.

* * *

After walking around the city for a few hours, the four friends hoped on the train back to Bushwick and since it was late and everybody except Blaine had to work tomorrow, they decided to call it a night. Santana and Rachel were already in their rooms and Blaine was going to sleep on the couch until he got his things sorted out. Right now he was at the bathroom and he noticed that he hadn't taken his toothbrush with him.

"Kurt?" he called out.

"Yeah?" Kurt answered from the living room.

"Can you pass me my toothbrush? It's in my bag."

"Yeah, give me a second" Kurt kneeled next to Blaine's suitcase on the floor and started looking for his bathroom bag. He spotted it and saw a tiny box just next to it. Curiosity got the best out of him and he opened it.

"Oh my god" he whispered and put his hand in his mouth.

"Did you find it?" Blaine called again.

Kurt remembered what was going on and put the box back and grabbed the toothbrush. With shaky hands he walked towards the bathroom and took a deep breath before he knocked on the door. Blaine opened it and took the toothbrush from him.

"Thanks" he smiled. He looked over him suspiciously and said, "Are you ok?"

Kurt cursed in his thoughts about the fact that this boy could still read him like an open book. "Yeah, I'm just tired from all the walking."

"It was fun though" Blaine nodded. "Thanks for taking me again."

"No problem" Kurt replied and after an awkward silence he thought he needed to get his thoughts clear, in his room alone. "So if you need anything you know where to find me. Help yourself to anything from the kitchen. Just don't touch Santana's cookies, she'll scratch your eyes out if you eat any."

Blaine chuckled, "Thanks, I'll be fine".

"Ok, so goodnight" Kurt said.

"Goodnight." Just as Kurt was walking away from the bathroom, he said "It was really nice seeing you again, Kurt".

He turned around, the weird feeling in his stomach returning, "Yeah, me too." And with that he went to his room.

Three hours had passed and yet he still couldn't fall asleep. He knew that he would feel miserable tomorrow and that Isabelle would probably kill him for being so unproductive, yet his mind wouldn't shut up. Kurt knew what he saw, and what he saw was an engagement ring. Why would Blaine have an engagement ring? Was it for him?

It wasn't like the Wrigley's promise ring he had given him in Senior Year. This was a legit engagement ring. Was he going to propose? Why now when they weren't anything. Kurt would be lying if he said that getting back together was not on his mind, but in his mind, they needed to start dating again. They had ended on such bad terms that getting married was something that couldn't even cross Blaine's mind. Aside from the fact that he was nine-teen and Blaine eight-teen. They couldn't get married. He had seen how Rachel and Finn's almost wedding had failed epically. They weren't mature enough to do this. Blaine had to think similar to him.

And in his inner struggle, he was surprised to realize that instead of thinking about why would Blaine want to do this, he started thinking about what it would be like if he said yes. And after that, it all went to hell.

Kurt knew that he had to talk to Blaine about this; he had to know what was on the other boy's mind. He had to talk him out of this crazy idea, and make him see that they were far away from being ok. After they broke up, they didn't even talk, or at least not about what it meant for them after.

After four in the morning he knew he wasn't going to sleep, so he gave up and decided to start his day. On his way to the bathroom he spotted Blaine already awake on his phone.

"Oh I didn't know that you were up" Kurt said as he entered the living room.

"Yeah, I had trouble sleeping" Blaine answered turning around to see him.

"Any reasons in particular?"

"No. I guess it's just the change of environment" he shrugged. "Why are you up?"

"I couldn't sleep either" Kurt replied.

"Something on your mind?"

"Yeah like a million" Kurt knew that if he was going to say anything, it had to be right now. They were alone since Santana nor Rachel were up yet and there was nothing else they could do at four-thirty in the morning.

"Anything I can do?" Blaine asked interested.

"Actually you can. Blaine, I need to talk to you."

"Oh, okay" Blaine agreed skeptically.

Kurt sat down next to him and took a deep breath. "I found the ring in your bag" he said simply.

Blaine felt something shatter in his mind as his worst fear was becoming true. How could he been so stupid to send Kurt into his bag when he had it there. What was he supposed to do now?

"It was an accident, I promise." Kurt assured him.

"Are you mad?" Blaine asked when he didn't know what else to say.

"No, why would I be? I'm just surprised and confused." He stopped, "Why do you have an engagement ring? Is it for me?"

"Of course it is, who else would it be for?" Blaine answered.

"Okay, but why do you have it? And I know it's an obvious question, but what I want to know is why were you planning on proposing?"

Blaine never thought he would have to be in this position. He had taken the ring to New York because even though he didn't propose in Lima, he didn't discard the idea that maybe one day he could. He was in such a difficult position that the only way out he saw, was to tell Kurt the truth.

"I wasn't. Well, at first I was but then I decided not to." He crossed his legs in the couch. "Kurt, I still haven't been able to forgive myself after what I did to you. And I have told you like a million times how sorry I am and how guilty I feel, and after a year of making terrible decisions, I didn't know where I stood with you."

"So you decided to propose to know?" Kurt asked confused.

"No, that was one of the terrible decisions I was referring to. I know that saying sorry doesn't take anything back. And despite how it didn't mean absolutely anything to me, I know the damage is done and that I hurt you like I once never thought I would. Time helped us, I think, to put things into perspective. At least I know it helped me. It helped me see that what's done is done, and that instead of trying to be sad my whole life, I would try to win you back."

Kurt exhaled at the last comment which made Blaine say, "I know that you've told me that we are just friends and that you don't want anything with me because you have that Adam guy".

Kurt felt guilty at that and if Blaine was being this honest, maybe he should too. "I broke up with him" Kurt interrupted. "Well I guess that we never were anything. He was just a distraction."

"Oh, you did" Blaine said surprised.

"But that doesn't change anything between us" Kurt rapidly said.

"I know. I know" Blaine agreed feeling Kurt's walls grow higher.

"I came to New York knowing that the chances of me winning you back are very few. And I have to accept that part of me applying to NYADA was just in the hope that maybe I could. After the wedding I just knew I had to have you back, and despite of how you claim that it meant nothing, and that it was only for fun. You can't deny that some small part of you wished we never fell apart."

"Blaine we fell apart because you cheated" Kurt said defensively.

"Wow, it still stings" he shook his head at Kurt's comment. "What I did was something that I never should have done, but we were going through a rough patch. Even though nothing justifies my mistake, I know that both of us could have done better to save our relationship. Or at least not let it fall that much down".

Kurt had to give him that. He knew both of them had made mistakes.

"But we can't change that. We can just move on from it. And I thought that me proposing would be moving forward" Blaine continued.

"How can we move forward if we aren't in a relationship?" Kurt asked.

"I see it now, but in my stupidity and love for you, I couldn't see it even with your constant reminding that we were just friends. Frankly I'm glad you kept reminding me of it, because it helped me see my error. I was actually going to propose to you just after Regionals, but then I backed down." Blaine said

"Why?"

"Some of it was you not wanting to be anything, some was Sam's advice. But mainly it was seeing Mr. Schue and Emma get married." Kurt looked at him puzzled.

"They are two grownups who proved that marriage wasn't something easy. And seeing them get married after all they've been through, made me think how stupid my idea was. Who was going to guarantee me that we wouldn't fall even more apart because of it? Probably you would have said no, and even if you did say yes, we would have still been two stupid kids getting married before we even are old enough to drink." Kurt laughed a little at that and it made Blaine smile.

"I just knew we couldn't do it. So I never proposed. It wasn't my plan for you to find out, but as many other things, this just isn't something I can undo" Blaine said a bit more relaxed.

Kurt knew that this was what they needed. A talk to get their feelings straightened out. They had gone a year with minimal communication and nothing could get sorted out like this. It had been rough, Kurt couldn't deny that. But now Blaine seemed to be much more mature and he had taken responsibility of his actions. Maybe there was a light at the end of the tunnel, maybe they could make it work. And if they did, Kurt knew he was going to make everything possible to fix what he had done wrong on their relationship.

"Blaine, I know I've been very resistant about it. Part of me wanted to give in to you ever since Christmas but, I forgave you a long time ago" Blaine lifted his gaze off the floor. "I never told you because I kept trying to convince myself that I shouldn't have forgiven you, but it's you, and I never stopped loving you. We both made mistakes and as you said, we can't fix that. But we can move forward. I broke up with Adam because I could never have with him what I had with you. Even with all the drama. But what is a relationship without drama? It would be like _Wicked_ without Kristin Chenoweth" Blaine hiccuped and laughed and it made Kurt realize that he was crying.

"Although I could spare some if it" he chuckled. "Blaine..." He put his hand on his. "I love you."

"I love you too" Blaine sniffled.

"I know it won't be easy, but nothing in life is. And the truth is that I've been in New York for almost a year, and it has never felt like home, until now. You are my home and I never want to change that" Kurt said as a few tears were forming in his eyes now.

"You're mine too" Blaine wiped his own face.

"Let's just take it slow, okay? See where everything takes us" Kurt said.

Blaine couldn't believe that they had gotten here, all his hopes and dreams were coming true. So he knew he had to make it last this time.

"I'll make you a promise" Blaine said and stood up to get something out if his bag. "I won't propose to you now, but I'll promise you that I will make you trust me again. And this ring is gonna be the proof that one day we will make it. Because I know that you and I, Kurt are forever." Now Blaine wiped Kurt's tears away.

"Blaine Anderson, you have the ability to make me complete mush with what you say" Kurt chuckled.

"I consider it one of my best traits" he winked and Kurt smiled. "So we're going to be ok?"

"We are." Kurt nodded and wrapped his arms around Blaine, feeling that his entire world had meaning again.

* * *

"Morning" Rachel greeted while she cut some bananas and put them in a bowl.

"Mhm" Santana greeted back sleepily, rubbing the sleep out of her eyes. She went and slouched in a chair by the table.

"Do you want some?" Rachel asked pointing to some pancakes.

"Did you make them?" Santana asked.

"Yeah, why?"

"Are they vegan?"

"Of course they are" Rachel said with her hand on her hip and looked back at Santana.

"Then no thanks."

Rachel rolled her eyes. "They taste exactly the same as normal pancakes."

"No they don't" Santana stubbornly said.

"You should eat things that are good for you" Rachel said for what she felt was the four hundredth time.

"Yeah, yeah. I like my parasites" Santana said also for the four hundredth time. Rachel just shook her head as any other morning.

"So where are the hardy boys?" Santana asked getting up and fetching the cereal.

Rachel just passed on a note that was lying in the table.

_Went out for a walk and then work. Blaine's coming with me to Vogue._

_- Kurt and Blaine_

"Hmm, looks like our boy here forgave him quickly" Santana said putting the note down and getting the milk out of the refrigerator.

"He just took him to work with him, don't get ahead of yourself" Rachel said sitting down and started to eat breakfast.

"But what if they are back together, would it be so horrible?" Santana asked without lifting her eyes from her spoon.

Rachel had the feeling that she wasn't necessarily speaking about Kurt and Blaine only. "I don't know. It all depends on if they can solve their problems."

"Do you think one can fix all the problems? Up to the point that they are nonexistent?"

"No. I think problems are always going to be there, it just has to be in you to make them not be your priority, and to find a way to fix them" Rachel said and ate another sliced piece of banana. She eyed Santana curiously. "Why?"

"I don't know, I guess we are really good about saying that we're living in New York and that we need to move on from the past, but somehow the past always finds you."

Rachel now knew what this was about, and it wasn't about Kurt and Blaine. "Do you miss her?"

Santana smiled slightly because even though they had only been living together six months, Rachel could get her well. "I don't know. I guess, I've made myself used to the idea that she's not here and that I have to live with that. It's not new to me though, with me and Brittany it's always felt like we are far away."

"What you're saying now, is it about what you said yesterday?" Rachel asked the curiosity getting the best of her.

"Kind of. At first she was just my friend, and then she was my friend who I did stuff with. I mean, we were young and we didn't know what we were doing. The only thing I knew was that I had the complete trust in her to do these things with. And with her it felt right, it felt like no one was forcing me to do anything. And the first time I started to feel something, the first time I realized that she was the only one who actually looked at me with the most sincere look. The first one who actually cared about my feelings, because she felt similar, I backed away. I got dressed and walked away, I forced myself to numb my feelings to try and make them go away, because it wasn't right, because it was scary and I didn't even know who I was." Santana said remembering how she had felt four years ago. Rachel just listened patiently, knowing that she couldn't push her, because this had been the most honest and open Santana had ever been with her.

"But I couldn't run away, because I always loved her, and not having her in my life just wasn't something I understood. And as time passed by and I realized that it was ok to feel like this, I told her I loved her. And she said it back, but she left me alone, for Stubble McCripple Pants" Santana said daring to look at Rachel. She just nodded understandingly in return.

"You know how long distance relationships are, they just don't work. And I thought I was doing the right decision by breaking up with her. But when she started dating Trouty Mouth? That was such a slap in the face! Why did she have to date _him _of all people."

"I know how you feel, when Finn started dating Quinn again after we broke up I felt like all you ever did, and all you ever felt just went down the drain, because in your mind they chose someone worse than you" Rachel replied.

"Exactly! That's what I thought at first, and when I left Louisville and went back to Lima I thought she would just dump the fish and be with me. But she sent me off to New York instead" Santana continued.

"Do you regret moving here?" Rachel asked.

"No, I think it's one of the best decisions I have ever made. And I'll always be thankful with her for giving me the push to pack my bags and take the train. People underestimate Britt all the time, they say she's not smart enough, but she was smart enough to see that I _needed _to be here, even if that meant being far away from her."

"Yeah absolutely", Rachel agreed.

"The first couple of months here I kept wishing that she would graduate and come to New York and that we would get that happy ending. But then I get a call from guppy mouth telling me that he thought Brittany was in trouble. And that was the day I had my second date with Emily, and instead of trying to move on like she had told me so, and try to date this girl who was really cool, I hung up and booked a plane ticket back home."

Santana put her cereal plate aside, knowing she wasn't hungry anymore.

"MIT is really lucky to have her, you know, and I'm so happy that she finally feels like the world believes in her. I've always believed in her and that is why, I sent her off there, even when she practically begged me to make her stay."

"Wait, you send her off?" Rachel interjected.

"She was scared and she didn't know what to do, she thought she wasn't good enough to make it. But I told her that she was and that she had to go. I told her that she had sent me off to New York to find myself and that now it was time for her to do the same." Santana's voice broke at the end as her emotions were getting the best of her. Rachel moved to the chair next to her and put her arm around her.

"We cried and I hold on to her all night. She told me that she would go to make me proud and that one day we would be together, and in that moment I believed her. I really did, but as days pass, I don't think we will. But then I see Kurt and Blaine and I start to consider it again, but she's in Boston, she's not here with me, and I can't change that even though I miss her like crazy" Santana broke into sobs and Rachel hold on to her tight. She had been with her when she thought she was pregnant, and now she would do the same. Rachel started to feel misty eyed too because she understood what she was feeling. She still missed Finn...

"I can't promise that you're going to get back together with her, but never discard the idea, Santana." Rachel said after a while.

"Do you think you're going to get back together with Finn one day?" Santana asked as she lifted her face from Rachel's shoulder and wiped her tears.

"I don't know, Finn will always be in my life no matter how hard I try, and whenever I need someone, he always manages to be there. What we had was special and even when I broke up with him, I told him that it wasn't the time to be together, but I never said that one day in the future we couldn't. Finn and I are complicated, and we need to figure things out first, but regardless, he's in Lima and I'm here, and he'll never move to New York" Rachel said.

"Never say never Rach" Santana added.

"I know you think he's a horrible guy, but maybe, I don't know. I do miss him sometimes." Rachel said honestly.

"I don't think he's a horrible guy, I just think that he has an even bigger mouth than yours, and that he shouldn't spend more than a few hours out of the ocean" she said cynically.

"Stop it, don't be mean" Rachel said trying to be stern but failing. "He's not fat."

"If you compare him with whales, he isn't."

Rachel just shook her head, "I'm glad that you're back to your old self Santana".

Santana smiled and looked at her. "We will get better, you know, with or without them."

"Because we have each other" Rachel smiled.

"Everything was going perfect and you had to gay it up" Santana sighed.

"Ugh, shut up Santana" Rachel said.

"I'm kidding, I'm kidding!" Santana laughed. "Come here" she said and hugged Rachel. "Thanks for being a good friend."

"Thank you for being so open with me, I know it was hard" Rachel squeezed back.

"With you it's not so hard" Santana smiled.

Rachel stood up to put her plates in the sink. "I gotta get going, I have to be in the city in an hour for rehearsal.

"Ok, have fun" Santana said picking up a newspaper. "Oh, wait! You're coming tonight right?" Rachel turned around, "To my first performance!" Santana said excitedly.

"Of course I will! I would never miss you singing!" Rachel said.

Santana had been working as a go-go girl and a cage dancer but after getting some perspective by taking ballet lessons, she thought she had to do something of more substance with her life. So she went on a job hunt and landed a gig as a singer two nights a week in a small bar in Manhattan.

"I'll drop off after work. You'll score us free booze right?" Rachel asked.

"Oh la la, Rachel Berry trying to get her drink on illegally!" Santana teased.

"Shut up and answer me" Rachel said.

"Yeah I will" she laughed. "As long as you don't get as needy as that time in Junior Year, and that it's not with me."

"Yeah, cause that will happen." She said sarcastically. "You probably will get drunk first and start crying" Rachel argued.

"You'll just have to see for yourself" Santana said cockily.

Rachel just laughed, got her bag and waved goodbye as she left the apartment.

* * *

Who would have thought that five years ago, signing her name next to a star in a sign-up sheet for a Glee Club, would define how her life would become. Rachel Berry never thought that she would win a national championship, become friends with cheerleaders and jocks, fall in love, get into the country's most prestigious school for dramatic arts, move to New York and finally, get casted as Fanny Brice, her dream role,and in Broadway.

She sometimes couldn't believe that people believed that much in her, especially when she doubted herself many times along the way. But now that she was standing here, before the curtain of her Broadway debut, she knew she had made it. All those competitions and challenges had helped her endure and thrive in what she did best. She was proving wrong everyone who ever told her that she wasn't good enough, to all of those who had claimed she had lost herself, that she was arrogant and selfish, too outspoken, too self-involved. It didn't matter anymore because tonight, she would shine the brightest. This would be the day that Rachel Barbra Berry became a star.

The curtain went up and Rachel spotted a full house. Breathing in one last time she looked around before the spotlight hit her and she couldn't see anything else. She saw Kurt, Santana and Blaine, her dads and even Mr. Schuester who flew from Ohio to see her. Everyone she loved was there. And just when the lights started to grow stronger and it was her cue, in the fifth row a tall guy in a black suit sat down. She could recognize those eyes anywhere, because looking directly at her, was Finn.

* * *

A/N: The song is "New York" by Snow Patrol. Hope I did justice to the Klaine scene, so Klaine shippers, be free to call me out if you didn't like it. Until next week!


	2. Chapter 2

Hello!

Here's chapter two. This is dedicated for the Finchel fans of the fic, I think you'll like it. I'm working on the next one and I'll have it up next week, so stay tuned. Enjoy and please leave a review! everything's appreciated.

:)

* * *

Chapter 2

It was more than she could handle. The lights, the roaring applause as the first act ended, those eyes, the thrill of performing, those eyes, her director's orders, those eyes.

Finn was here. Finn was here. She kept repeating it in her head because she couldn't process any of it. She hadn't seen him since the wedding and she never would have thought that she would get like this by just seeing him. Her world was spinning and as her other cast mates went on stage, she stopped backstage to catch her breath.

She turned around to direct herself to her dressing room when she saw Finn standing there. Her heart skipped a beat. There he was, in a touching distance, with his crooked and dopey smile and his black suit and tie. She had no idea how he had gotten backstage but that was the least of her concerns.

She took a step forward, "Finn what are you doing here?"

"I came to see you, and give you this" he replied holding a bouquet of flowers. Rachel took them astonished. "You were amazing."

Rachel smelled the flowers and smiled shyly at him. She felt just like the first time Finn had given her flowers, she could still get so shy despite everything that had happened between them.

"Rachel five minutes!" Someone in the show's crew told her. Rachel landed from her flight and she remembered where she was. Broadway, her debut, she couldn't mess this up.

_Focus Rachel, focus. _She said in her head. "Umm, I need to go back on stage" she said with a dry throat.

"Yeah of course, I'll be waiting for you" he smiled.

She nodded and started to go back when Finn said, "Rachel, give it your all, and enjoy every moment on that stage because I have never been more proud of you".

Rachel felt her heart swell from what Finn said to her. She had learnt to live without him but she could never fall out of love with him.

She reached over and threw her arms around his neck, standing on her tip toes to be able to properly hug him. Finn squeezed back tightly before letting her go. She smiled and focused her thoughts, as excited as she was that Finn was here, she needed to shine on stage, because she had worked too hard to get here. And she would make everyone watching, her friends and family, Finn and herself especially, proud.

* * *

"Thank you for staying" Rachel said.

"Yeah don't worry about it." Finn replied as they walked out of the theater from the back door.

After the show had ended Rachel had stayed for a toast with the crew and she had greeted tons of people who had congratulated her on her outstanding performance. Her dads and friends had wanted her to go out for dinner to celebrate but Rachel wanted to talk to Finn and see him. Her performance had been flawless because she had found all the courage she needed after she spoke with Finn and gave it her all. So she had lied and told her dads that she was very tired and that they should go out to celebrate tomorrow when she had finished her second performance.

"Sorry I kept you waiting" Rachel said.

"It's no big deal, there were tons of people there. I felt like we were in Hollywood" Finn said walking with his hands in his suit's pockets.

"Yeah it can get pretty hectic in there, especially today because of the opening. Did you like it?" She asked as she looked up at him.

"You were spectacular, and everything was great. Besides, you could star in the crappiest play and I would still think it was amazing because you were in it" Rachel blushed furiously and she felt a little embarrassed by it.

They were just walking out of 49th street, where the theater was located, and into Times Square. It was around two in the morning yet it still had an electric feel. Times Square is known for being one of the busiest and brightest places of New York, it never shuts down. And in the middle of the madness, walking into it with Rachel by his side, Finn felt completely at peace.

"So when are you going back to Lima?" Rachel asked. She hated doing this, but she couldn't get too comfortable if he was just going to leave again.

Finn was caught by surprise with the question so he could only tell her the truth. "I don't know yet. I haven't bought my ticket back."

"Did you take a plane?"

"No, I actually took the train, I needed the time to think." He replied.

"About what?" Rachel said looking straight ahead.

"About many things, like where is my life going, or what I want to do and where do I want to do it all." He replied.

"And did you figure it out?"

"Some of it, yeah. The time was good although, I think some of it I had already figured it out since before I left Lima" Finn said just as the green walk light appeared and they could cross the street. Both of them knew they had many things to talk about, but they didn't feel like sitting down for it. Walking was nice, it was soothing. So they crossed Broadway and kept walking through 8th Avenue, without thinking that Bushwick was nowhere close.

"Last summer I thought I knew the best way to figure my life out, I thought that sending you off here and going to the army would help me redeem my father and my life too. I sent you here because I thought that we needed to be in different places to figure out our own separate lives. When the truth was that I couldn't stand you seeing me as a failure of a man-"

"Finn, you never were a failure of a man" Rachel interrupted.

"No, I was. I didn't know how to solve my own life and I hurt you in exchange of trying to figure it out. Just to be incredibly disappointed at the end because of my epic failure." He replied.

"Finn no, don't do this to yourself" Rachel argued.

"Just hear me out first, ok? Can you do that for me?" Finn asked knowing how hard it was for Rachel to silence her opinions. Rachel just nodded knowingly.

"After we broke up, I didn't know what I was going to do with my life. And when Mr. Schue took me in and let me coach the Glee Club, I discovered something new about myself. I discovered that even though I had been in these kids' positions just a year before, I could change their lives with music, just like it had changed mine" Finn narrated. Rachel kept her eyes ahead and would turn to look at him from time to time, listening attentively to everything he had to say.

"I learned so much, and despite our set backs, I fought so hard to keep that club alive and I think I did a good job with it. I felt proud of myself for the first time in a while. But after some mistakes and ruptures in my relationships, it was time for me to leave it. Because although it brought me the biggest joy, I didn't belong there. I needed to move on, go to college."

Finn continued, "Back in senior year I thought being an actor was what I wanted to be, but that wasn't it. And even though it set many things apart, I'm kind of glad I didn't get accepted to that acting school."

Finn continued as he loosened the knot of his tie. "I wanted that feeling of being young and feeling completely alive to never stop. I wanted my life to be the thrill of performing, the adrenaline that rushed through my body when the crowd was up on their feet. I wanted to feel exactly how I felt when we preformed at Chicago in Nationals. It was the best moment of my life, because halfway through the number I knew we were going to win, because we were _that _good."

Finn reminisced those moments and he still felt goosebumps on his skin by the memory. "And it took me a while to understand what exactly made me so happy. And I guess, on some level I will never know completely, but a huge part was because of you. When we were on that stage I turned around and I could see you, and just to be able to share all that I was feeling with you, was truly the best part." Rachel looked up at him in awe at everything he was saying. "I had never been happier than I was at that performance and it was because I was with you, Rachel. And I just knew that I wanted the rest of my life to be exactly like that."

They had walked almost eight blocks from Times Square and they could see Central Park ahead. "Many things have changed since senior year, Finn" Rachel said to him.

"Yeah I know, and I think on some level those changes were positive because we both grew. I know I did because I'm not that lost kid that arrived at your door in October when I thought everything was lost. I was such a loser."

"Finn-" Rachel argued.

But Finn just continued, "I told you once that I wanted to be the man that would make you proud, that I wanted to see myself the way you saw me, I wanted to show you that I wanted to dream big, just like you. I told you I wanted to be the man you deserved; your hero. And frankly, that guy who left you alone before, was not your hero." He shook his head. "I knew I couldn't change everything that's happened between us in that time, but I knew that I could change myself and I did".

They entered Central Park and started walking around the edge of it and through 5th Avenue because it was dark and it wasn't the best option to walk inside it. "Being an actor wasn't who I was meant to be. I want to be a teacher, and help lost kids like me and all of us in Glee Club, find their way. I want to inspire kids to follow their dreams, just like you did. I want to help them find their dreams, just like I did. Because it's never too late to dream. And you taught me that." He turned to look at her as they kept walking.

"You taught me that no matter how many adversities or set backs, you can still dream big and make them come true. It took me a while to see that I needed to do this too, but I got it right. I finally did. I filed the paperwork and transferred to NYU."

Rachel stopped abruptly while Finn kept walking oblivious to the fact that she wasn't walking anymore.

"You what?" Rachel asked, her eyes big from the surprise.

"What?" Finn asked turning around confused and when Rachel just stared at him blankly he continued, "I knew I had to get it right, because of you-"

"No, wait a minute." Rachel gulped visibly. "You transferred where?"

Finn took a step forward, "NYU" he said simply. Rachel sucked in her breath and was speechless for what felt like the first time in her life.

Seeing Rachel's face, Finn knew he had to explain, "I want to be with you, Rachel. I never stopped loving you, not even one single day. You told me when we broke up that you wanted me to be your last, but that you couldn't do it anymore. And you were right, we just couldn't be together then. We didn't even live in the same city. I told you at the wedding that no matter who you were living with, I was your boyfriend and we would end together." Finn said as Rachel didn't even blink.

"I knew it wouldn't last with Brody so I knew I had to become the man who would take care of you, the man that you would wake up beside and feel proud and happy to be with. I want you to love me like you did before. I want to be your everything again, and being stuck in Lima wasn't going to do it. So I transferred here. I am not giving up on my dream, but being a teacher would not work if I wasn't with you. NYU is so much better than Lima College and this way, we can make _our _dreams come true, together, forever." Finn finished.

Rachel listened to everything he said and she knew that a year had been enough for them to get their act together, for them to understand that there wasn't a way if they weren't together. They were Finn and Rachel and it couldn't be any other way. She knew they were done playing, this was it. They were endgame.

"Rachel? Please say something" Finn said doubtfully. He had never seen her with such a loss of words before; Rachel always had something to say. But she couldn't quite say what she wanted. Besides, she knew they were past saying things, they needed actions. Therefore, she reached over to him and kissed him.

She threw her arms around his neck and stood on the tip of her toes. Finn was taken by surprise by the kiss but he quickly reciprocated it and wrapped his arms around her tiny waist. They both smiled into the kiss and Rachel let her left hand travel to the side of his face, pulling him closer. They broke apart but stayed close, both smiling and looking at each other.

Rachel pecked his lips one more time and feeling that no other things were needed to be expressed, she said, "I love you too".

In the middle of Central Park they knew they would make it.

* * *

They walked hand in hand out of Central Park and got on the train back to Bushwick. Rachel felt safe in Manhattan but as she approached Bushwick she always kept her eyes open, she knew that it wasn't safe for her to walk around the neighborhood at almost four in the morning. But this time she had Finn with her and she felt safe.

They got to the apartment and everyone was already asleep, Rachel noticed that Blaine wasn't on the couch, but she just smiled. Finn told her that he could stay on the couch, being careful about the barriers that they hadn't established yet. However, Rachel just shook her head and guided him to her bedroom. It was too late to do anything, and besides, they both felt that they needed to go slow. So, since Finn's stuff was still at the train station locker he had rented, he slept in his boxers and suit shirt. Rachel did her night-time ritual in the bathroom and when she came out she found him still awake.

"I thought you'd be asleep by now" she said taking her sweater off to be only in her tank top; the weather outside being very mild.

"I was waiting for you" Finn replied.

"Don't you feel tired?" She asked.

"Strangely, no" he replied.

"Me neither, I feel very wired." She said as she got into her bed, "A lot of things happened today".

Finn smiled at that, "Yeah. You became famous".

"I'm not famous, Finn" she replied.

"You are, because you were absolutely amazing. You have no idea how proud you made me."

Rachel snuggled closer, "Good, I want you to be".

"I am, and always will be. You're a star Rachel, and now the whole of New York will know" he said proudly.

"Finn stop it, you're making me blush" she giggled.

"I wont, because that's what you are. A big gold star. Baby, I'm amazed by you".

Rachel smiled since she hadn't heard Finn call her 'baby' in over a year. "And soon I'll have the best teacher of NYU by my side" she said back.

"Maybe" Finn teased. Rachel was glad that his confidence was back, now they could really thrive together.

Rachel laid back and put her head on his chest, Finn kissed her hair and suddenly felt the day's exhaustion arrive. They remained quiet for a while until he felt his eyelids turn very heavy.

"Finn?"

"Mhmm" he replied.

"I'm falling asleep."

"Me too" he answered and shifted on the bed so he was holding her properly. Rachel moved with him and put her arm around his stomach.

"Goodnight" she whispered as she snuggled on his chest.

"Night" he replied, tightening his arms around her waist.

"I love you, Finn" she whispered even more quietly. Finn's heart stopped from the happiness that he felt having his girl back, and this time they wouldn't screw it up.

"I love you more".

* * *

"Good morning" a chipper Rachel said as she came out of her room.

Kurt was up mixing something that looked like pancake batter in a bowl. Blaine was already dressed and gelled and was sitting in one of the chairs at the table with the newspaper in his hands. Santana was slouched on the chair beside him, with a cup of coffee in front of her and sleep in her eyes. Just before anyone could answer her, Finn came out of her room in his suit pants and shirt with a few buttons left undone.

"Hey guys" he greeted.

Everyone turned their head surprised to see him and Santana who had been almost asleep before, now sat completely awake.

"Finn! Oh my god! What are you doing here?!" Kurt left his pancake batter and rushed to Finn to give him a hug. He hadn't seen him since he visited Lima back in May.

"Hey buddy" he returned the hug, "I came to see Rachel".

Blaine stood up and shook his hand, "Nice to see you, man".

"You too Blaine" he greeted and patted his shoulder. Santana sat still in her chair and just looked at them.

Their relationship wasn't the best one even after all that had happened last year and that she called him to do the Brody-vention.

"Santana" Finn said kindly.

"Finnocence" she said back with a smirk.

Finn stood awkwardly and when he saw that she wasn't going to even stand up for him, he replied, "Always a pleasure Santana".

Rachel knew that they weren't best friends and by the looks that Santana was throwing her, she knew they would have a conversation. "So, who wants breakfast?"

* * *

After they had breakfast and caught up a bit (everyone except Santana) Kurt had been called in for work, even though it was a Saturday, to help Isabelle on some 'fashion emergency'. Finn needed to go to Grand Central Station for his things and thought that it was better if they went on the same train to the city. Blaine had tagged along to have a proper catching up with Finn, leaving Santana and Rachel alone on the apartment.

"So, when did Orca swim his way back into your pants?" Santana abruptly said.

Rachel closed her eyes at the accusation. "Santana, drop it. We didn't _do_ anything."

"Oh, yeah. You really expect me to believe it when he appeared from your room in the morning?" Santana said crossing her arms.

"He slept in my room but we didn't have sex. And even if we had, why would it be any of your concern?" Rachel said losing her patience.

Santana retracted at the tone and realized that maybe she had come off too strong with the interrogation. "Ok, look. I don't care if you called him for a fatty greasy booty call. I don't care if you like being smothered by a sack of potatoes. Fine, you did it at the wedding. But _that_ didn't sound a lot like a one night stand to me" Santana said.

"It wasn't" Rachel said. Santana looked at her for an explanation when Rachel didn't say more.

"He showed up yesterday to see me. He was the last person I expected to see. I mean, we weren't on bad terms before this, but we weren't exactly speaking. And he came, and for some reason he gave me the confidence to make it my best performance." Rachel sighed and went to sit on the couch next to her.

"Finn has always been there, he always shows up when I need him. It's like we're tethered and after a while of being apart, fate brings us back together."

"Are you back together?" Santana asked.

Rachel looked at her seriously, "We are". Santana nodded knowingly and exhaled.

"Why are you upset?" Rachel asked with a kinder tone this time. She had known Santana long enough to know that she did everything for a reason.

"I'm not upset. I'm just looking out for you" Santana admitted without looking at her.

Rachel smiled briefly, "Santana, Finn's a good guy, and you know it. Why else would you have told him about Brody".

Santana shrugged but nodded, "I just don't want you to get hurt". She shifted on the couch so she was facing Rachel, "You took me in and it changed my life, and you and Kurt are my family now. And just seeing you and Kurt back to what caused you both grief for more than a year, I feel that you might get hurt. Because I understand how special Finn and Blaine are to both of you".

"Santana, if you and Brittany were in a similar position, would you want me to not like it?" Rachel asked cautiously, knowing it was a sore subject.

"Me and Britt are different" Santana answered.

"How so?"

"I broke up with her, I broke her heart first" she said, the last part more quietly.

"Ok, yeah but if she showed up here, I know you would give her a chance. Because _I _gave Finn a chance. Finn and me, and Kurt and Blaine and you and Brittany, we're similar in the sense that we all have great loves and complicated relationships. And although sometimes it was more of a mess than anything else, we were all our first loves, and that's something hard to forget."

She put her hand on Santana's knee kindly, "I don't expect you to accept my relationship and I appreciate that you take care of me. I never thought that Santana Lopez would ever do that. But I care a lot about you too, and as my friend, one of my best friends, I can assure you that I know what I'm doing. Finn and I needed to figure things out before we moved into anything else. And I'm not saying we're going to get married right now, but I would like to give it a proper shot to our forever thing. Second chances are rare, and I believe that with Finn and I, this is the chance that sticks. Because after a certain number of screw ups you can't get it wrong again, right?" She asked and patted her knee.

"I guess" Santana said defeated.

"You know I'm right" Rachel laughed, "C'mon be happy for me!". Santana laughed when Rachel shook her leg with her hand, "Fine, all right! I am, I am happy for you".

Rachel smiled pleased.

"But if McGravy pants pulls another one of his stunts, I _will _go all Lima Heights."

"Deal" Rachel chuckled.

Santana looked at her friend, "I do need to accept that you are at your best when you are with him".

"I love him, Santana. I've always have."

"I know" Santana said and thought about those blue eyes she longed for every day.

* * *

A week went by and Rachel gave a couple of other performances and so far, the show was receiving great reviews. They said that the new Fanny Brice, gave all the emotional depth that the character needed, since Barbra. On Saturday evening they all went to dinner with Rachel's dads and Mr. Schuester and for the first time since she got to New York, Santana felt like a bad third wheel. Or in this case, fifth wheel.

The weather outside was too hot to go out where there wasn't any air conditioning, so they had decided to stay in and have a cook out.

"Rachel open your mouth" Finn said.

Santana rapidly reacted and said "Wanky" with a smirk but regretted it when she saw what was going on. Finn was feeding Rachel a strawberry while she was in between his legs on the couch. Rachel giggled and ate off his hand while Finn just looked at her in a way that he shouldn't in public.

"Ew, gross. You don't know where that hand's been" Santana said with a permanent icky face.

"Santana, stop being so sour" Kurt teased.

This made Santana turn around from the individual couch she was on and looked towards Kurt and Blaine. Much to her joy, Blaine and Kurt were almost on top of each other as Blaine had his arm around Kurt's waist and they were toying with their clasped hands. It was a much more decent picture than the other two, but to Santana right now, they were insufferable.

"Ugh" she complained. "How can you all be so touchy-feely when it's _this _hot?"

"Oh, come on, Santana, if Brittany was here, you would totally be doing this and more" Kurt said without thinking.

There was an awkward silence where everybody looked at each other carefully, and Rachel shot Kurt a killing look.

"Kurt-" Blaine tried to do damage control.

"No, you're right. But she isn't here so-" Santana glared at him. "I think I'm gonna take a walk." Santana said upset and turned around towards the door.

"Santana wait-" Finn interjected.

"No, I need to clear my head, the hot is making me all fussy. You continue on your annoying couple things" Santana said looking at them all and slamming the door behind her.

"Dude that wasn't cool" Finn glared at Kurt.

"Kurt, what were you thinking? You know how sore that topic is to her!" Rachel shook her head.

"I'm sorry! It just slipped, I didn't think it through." Kurt said guiltily.

"Well, at least she didn't go all Lima Heights on you" Blaine tried to help. Kurt smiled at him sadly. He really needed to watch his mouth more often.

* * *

Santana walked along Central Park; it was something about the place that made her feel really calm. She got away from Bushwick and how depressing it seemed, Manhattan on the other side, presented change and fresh opportunities. That's why she came here when she felt upset. Plus, she just loved the park.

She walked around with her hands in her short's pockets and watched the families have a nice day in the park. She missed Lima, even though when she was there, the only thing she wanted to do was get out of there, she sometimes missed the simplicity of it all. How did life get so complicated? Why did it get this messy?

She actually missed the times when she was just a cheerleader. Although she wasn't honest about who she was and was still in denial, but at least she had her. In that twisted way where she pushed her away, but she still had her. Was it selfish to want to go back to that, to when she hurt her more than she was her friend? But then again, when they were happy, she still managed to break her heart.

"Not an official breakup, my ass" she said out loud but softly enough so that no one heard her.

How had her life come up to be filled with so many regrets? If she had the chance she would do it all over again. She would accept that she liked girls since she was fifteen, she would have told Brittany that she loved her ever since they kissed for the first time when they were thirteen. Hell, she would have told her ever since she first saw her in the fourth grade, the first time she ever smiled at her. It was love at first sight and she knew it. She would have accepted that she loved Glee Club from the first day she got a chance to sing in it. She wouldn't have fought for Puckerman and made Quinn and Mercedes' lives impossible. She wouldn't have dated Trouty Mouth or Karofsky. She shuddered visibly thinking about it. She would have agreed that she needed help in the whole Lady Music Week in Senior Year. She would have really said thank you to Finn. Because he could still drive her insane sometimes, but she knew he was a great guy, and Rachel and him deserved each other. She wouldn't have taken Finn's virginity and then tell Rachel about it. She wouldn't have thrown herself to so many boys, Brittany would have been her first and only. She wouldn't have slept with Quinn or let Brittany post that sex tape. She would have gone to New York since August and applied for a good college. She would have found herself in this world sooner and be truly honest about who she was, because if she had done all those things, she would have saved herself a whole lot of heartache.

But she hadn't. And she couldn't change any of it.

She dug out of her pocket her worn out friendship bracelet with Brittany. She hadn't taken it off for three years, until the day they broke up. Their relationship felt a lot like that bracelet, worn out. But behind the scratches and the paint that was falling off, it still held together. The question here was if they could still hold together with the distance. Boston wasn't that far away from New York, it was nearer than Lima, and that was progress. But she knew what distance did to them. Brittany and Santana's relationship depended on closeness and intimacy, they could say so much to each other just by a look or a touch. When they had to keep everything a secret, that was how they communicated.

They were in two different places, she was thriving in one of the best schools in the country, being treated like the true genius she was, and she didn't even know what she was going to do with her life. She felt so lost and for the first time she felt like crying in public, because Rachel had seen her cry and Kurt one time when she was drunk, but not in broad daylight and in the middle of the park. She just didn't know what to do anymore.

* * *

"We're not saying that you need to stop talking to her all together, Kurt" Rachel said and stood up from the couch to go open the door after a knock was heard.

"Just don't mention her, especially when she's upset" Rachel stopped to finish her sentence before she opened the door.

She placed her hand on the metal surface and slid it to the side to get it open. When she could, she looked up to see who it was, and opened her mouth from the surprise. Because standing there with a smile, was no other than Brittany.

* * *

Brittany hadn't been answering her texts for a week. Ever since she left for MIT, they had been texting and shared a couple of calls. But for a week she hadn't been replying. She knew she shouldn't be worried, because she probably was very busy with all of the advanced classes they were making her take, but a part of her told her that maybe it was more than that. She tried to think less about the chance that she had found a guy, or worse, another girl. Maybe she was moving on, and on that very hot afternoon on the last day of August, Santana wondered if it was time for her to finally do the same.


	3. Chapter 3

How are you guys doing?

So here's chapter 3 for all the Brittana fans out there. Being myself a hardcore Brittana fan, and being used to write mostly about these girls, I gotts to say that it's a very special one. I'm having a blast getting comfortable in writing about Klaine and Finchel, but Brittana is what I'm used to, so I think you'll like this one. I'm already working on chapter 4 and maybe (if I get my lazy ass to write faster and stop procrastinating), I'll post chapter 4 and 5 next week since I have a pretty solid idea on what I want them to be about. Have to check with my beta on a few things but stay tuned in case I do manage to write both in a week.

Hope you like it and please don't be shy about the reviews, it would make me really happy if I get one. Give me ideas on what you would like to see. Seriously, everything's appreciated.

Enjoy!

* * *

Chapter 3

Could she do that? Could she move on? She had gone out a couple of times with this girl she met at a NYADA party. Her name was Emily and she was really cool. It was an instant attraction, and maybe it was the alcohol in her system but when the girl smiled at her, something in her awoke. It had been a long time since someone had smiled to her like that. Because both boys and girls hit on her all the time, but for her to feel something back, was really rare. Emily had a sweet smile, the kind that made her eyes sparkle. And although hers were a dark shade of green, it reminded her of two blue ones. She was two years older than her, she was going to start her senior year at NYADA, and what Rachel had told Santana about her, she was really good. She was majoring on acting, but just acting, no musical theatre like Rachel and Kurt.

They had talked at the party and Santana let herself get carried away and started flirting back. But when Emily asked for her number, she hesitated and before she could reply, Brittany's voice entered her mind.

_"Why can't you have a real girlfriend? But not a best friend 'cause that part's already taken."_

She had wanted her to move on, but she herself wasn't sure yet. She had been with Sam then and she told her that she wasn't going to break up with him, so Santana had to resign and accept the fact that she wasn't hers anymore.

So Santana gave the girl her number and decided to not look back. But whenever she was with her she couldn't help but think about Brittany. She hadn't really been with any girls beside Brittany. Because Quinn had been just a drunken mistake, and it hadn't been a relationship. And with Emily, she had a chance of making it something. She was kind, funny and pretty. However, the first time she leaned over to try to kiss her, Santana backed away instinctively. She felt terrible about it, but she felt dirty, like if she was cheating on Brittany, and she could never do that.

It was until their second date that Santana had already been to Lima and had said goodbye to Brittany, that she took the bullet and kissed Emily. It was better than she expected, but she was heartbroken and by the fourth date, she knew she couldn't use her like this. She couldn't forget about Brittany, she couldn't move on. At least not now.

She never slept with Emily and she was forced to tell her that she couldn't feel anything for her because she was still in love with someone else. Emily had been really nice about it, actually. She told Santana that she had known ever since she turned her head away when she was going to kiss her, but that she had been willing to be patient because she really liked her. She told her that it was better this way, and that they could still be friends. Santana felt horrible about it, but she couldn't force her feelings. She had done it when she was still in the closet, but there was no way she would do it again.

But now, two months later, she started to question if she really needed to move on.

"Why aren't you answering my texts?" Santana said to herself as she stared at the bracelet.

"I'm sorry, I had to sell my cell phone to buy my ticket here."

Santana's eyes went wide and she slowly turned around, not knowing what to expect.

"My cell phone and a bunch of Lord Tubbington's magical poop to the crazy man by the library, Patches" Brittany said in her quirky way.

"Brittany" Santana gasped.

"Hey San" Brittany smiled.

"What are you doing here?" She asked still surprised.

"Kurt and Rachel, they told me I'd find you here" Brittany took a step forward.

"No, I mean, here in New York."

"It's a long story" she sighed.

"I've got time" Santana said recovering a bit from the initial shock.

"Where do you want me to start?"

"How about from the beginning" Santana said.

Brittany laughed, "Yeah ok, coffee?". Santana nodded and started walking out of the park as Brittany put her arm around her.

* * *

Once they were seated in a coffee shop on Madison Avenue, Brittany decided to start telling her tale. She decided to start slow. "I dropped out of MIT."

"You what?!" Santana almost choked on her coffee.

"I dropped out of MIT" Brittany repeated.

"Britt, why did you do that?" Santana asked still agitated.

"Because I didn't want to be in that school!" Brittany reacted.

Santana saw how upset she was and immediately retracted to a calmer tone, "Why? What happened?"

"I didn't apply there. They just chose me because of my SAT scores. I didn't want to study math and numbers. I didn't even know if I wanted to go to college. I spent my entire life hating math and science because it was too hard for me. And it wasn't that I didn't want to like it or understand it, I just didn't like it as much as I do other things" the blonde narrated.

"All my life, they kept telling me that I wouldn't make it and for a while I dozed off, and I didn't wake up until this year when I started to make things happen for myself. I knew I had to work hard to prove everyone wrong, and I did Santana, I did."

"I know you did" Santana said kindly.

"I just-" she hesitated. "I just feel that when people started to see all that I had to give, they made assumptions about me and didn't even give me room to breathe." Brittany played with her cup of coffee in her hand, "It was hell there San, you have no idea. My head was in pain everyday from all of the numbers they were asking me to give to them. And I didn't have an answer most of the time. Or at least not at that exact moment. They expected so much from me and I failed them." She said looking down.

"Hey, no. Don't say that, you didn't fail them. It just wasn't the school for you." Santana said reaching over for Brittany's hand. "This doesn't mean that you are any less smart, it just means that they didn't understand you, Britt."

The blonde looked up to see her best friend. How could Santana manage to get her so well? She had understood everything perfectly with just a couple of details. Santana had been the only person who had ever understood her truly.

"You have to find your corner in the sky, you know? Somewhere were you truly thrive" Santana kept saying.

"I think I know, I mean, clearly MIT wasn't it, but I had a plan. At first I didn't know what I wanted to do, but I knew that where I was, wasn't my thing. Could you imagine me at a lab, solving equations?" She asked Santana who just shook her head and smiled.

"Exactly, no. It would be like Lord Tubbington not being able to form part of his gang, and working as a car salescat." Brittany casually said.

Santana smiled sweetly at her weird ways.

"I do have to accept that when I left Boston, I didn't know what I was going to do completely, and my parents were super pissed because they thought I was going to throw my life away when I had already gained something guaranteed. So I gave it a lot of thought. I thought hard about my life and my future, and then I started thinking about pandas and how they are black but also white-" She drifted off.

"Britt, I think we're getting off track here" Santana made her focus.

"Right. And I also thought about us, and what would become of us."

Santana tensed visibly at the subject. "Britt, I don't think we should be discussing that now-"

"Just hear me out, ok? I promise I won't talk anymore about pandas" Brittany insisted.

"Yeah, ok" Santana agreed, she could never say no to her.

"Back in May, I was scared, and you knew it. I didn't want to go to MIT because it was a big change and I'm not a big fan of them. This past year was very big on changes, mostly concerning us and you, and I just didn't know how to live without you" Brittany sincerely said. "I was scared of going to MIT because I thought I wasn't good enough, yes. But the main reason was that I would be far away from you, again." She took a sip of her coffee to regain her thoughts.

"Ever since that night where nothing was holding us apart anymore, I was dying to be with you".

Santana sucked in her breath because no matter how hard she tried, Brittany always made her mush, but she had to regain perspective. "Britt, it wasn't the time, you know it."

"Yeah, but when will it be the time, Santana? We broke up for a reason even if I never would have broken up with you. And then I started dating Sam, and then you came back, and then it all just got more complicated. So it looks like it never is the time".

"When I came to Lima after I dropped out of UofL, we could have started again, but you sent me off here" Santana argued feeling accused by her.

"Yes, but I was dating Sam and I wasn't going to break up with him when you broke up with me first." Santana tried to argue so she continued, "The point is that I knew you needed to be here and that you wouldn't have left Lima if we got back together. Can you deny that?"

"No" Santana said quietly.

"I needed you to start believing in yourself again. I needed us to swim in different waters for a while, so you could find yourself. I told you to date other people just so you wouldn't wait for me. So you could thrive here, on your own. And without me for a change. Even though it was one of the hardest things I have ever done" Brittany looked at her.

Santana's face showed deep appreciation for Brittany and her words. "I never had the chance to thank you for that. 'Cause if it hadn't been for you I would have never done something for myself and I know I still don't have it figured out, but it was a great start".

Brittany nodded, "Which brings us back to my story. I knew I didn't fit in there and I knew I couldn't do it if I wasn't with you. And I imagined my life in 10 years and I didn't see you in it and I didn't see myself doing something I really loved. So it got me thinking, what is it that I really love? Dancing! It has been the only thing that I didn't struggle at, because it just came natural to me. I didn't have to doodle numbers for it, I could just let my body flow and everything was just magic. Dancing is my true unicorn, San. Nothing else compares to it." Brittany's eyes sparked with excitement and Santana smiled at seeing her talk so passionately about something she loved. Brittany had always been happiest when she was dancing.

"Well, one thing does, you."

Santana knitted her eyebrows in concern at Brittany's words. "San, I've made many mistakes, _we've_ made many mistakes. And as I reflected on my life before, I knew that I didn't want to screw it up anymore. I realized that I only ever was successful at something if I had a goal, and my goal, my priority right now, is to get you back. I don't care how long it takes, I know I will get you back, because Santana, you and I are epic, ok? No other couple has gone as far or through as much as we have."

Brittany took Santana's hand and said, "You accepted who you were, for me. You were so brave and I couldn't have been more proud of you. We belong together, because we accepted who we were to be together, and that is something that should never, ever fade."

"Brittany, we can't be together, not now" Santana shook her head.

"Why not?"

"Because we don't live in the same city, you know what distance does to us!" Santana said exasperated.

"But we do live in the same city" Brittany said stubbornly.

"What?" Santana asked confused.

"I got into Juilliard" the blonde said after a deep breath.

"Oh my god! Brittany! That's amazing!" Santana said excitedly as she reached over the small table and gave her a hug. "Congratulations! But when did you apply?"

"Well ever since the start of the semester I started thinking about colleges and I sent my application just in case, you know? Because I still didn't know what I was going to do. But there were some forms you had to send back as part of the whole process and unfortunately the dead lines were around when I got early admission to MIT, so I never did the second stage. And ever since the first week there I wasn't liking it, so I told Sam. He was never convinced in me going away and he knew about Juilliard so he went and sent the forms, even though it was technically late." Brittany narrated as the brunette nodded.

"The forms got to New York and fortunately for me, the guy who received them had seen me dance at Sectionals and Regionals this year and had tracked me down. Sam talked to him and explained the situation and he was more than happy to see me audition. And when he told me all this I was just looking for an excuse to drop out. So, the guy was in Boston and he set up an audition and well I went, not really expecting anything, but he loved me." Brittany said smiling slightly.

"I had already filed the paperwork and there was nothing else for me to do in Boston, so I went back to Lima without a clue of what I was going to do with my life." she stopped and took a sip of her coffee. "Fortunately for me, a few days later I got a letter saying that it had been an exceptional case but due to my experience and talent, I had been accepted." Santana listened attentively feeling very proud of her best friend.

"I told my parents and they had no other option but to be supportive even though they told me that it wasn't their ideal choice for me. But by that point I was past caring because that acceptance letter had granted me my ticket to New York and to you". She smiled.

"B, that's great! I'm so proud of you! You're going to be the best dancer" Santana supportively said.

"I know I don't have everything figured out and that my parents can't pay for my tuition. I know I have to get a job, because I applied for a scholarship but due to the abruptness of my acceptance, they couldn't grant it to me until the second semester and only if I keep my grades up, so I'll have to work extra hard."

"You'll do great, and I'll help you. We'll figure it out, ok?"

"Yeah, I know" Brittany said a bit more relaxed. She had told Santana everything and she hadn't been upset, but she felt that Santana was avoiding all comments regarding their relationship. She had to be clearer on what she felt for her.

"So San, now that we will be living in the same city, we can be a couple again, right?" She said boldly.

"Britt-" Santana started.

"No, come on, Santana! Ever since that night when I told you about MIT, I can't stop thinking about how I should've kissed you and told you that I'm still in love with you. I should have said it to you even with Lord Tubbington in the room, I wouldn't have even cared if he got jealous."

Brittany took a breath and stared into Santana's concerned and nervous eyes. "Because I'm tired of me sending you to New York and you sending me to Boston. I'm tired of us trying to save the other person, instead of finding a way for us both to be saved while being together. I don't care about Sam, I mean, he's still my friend, and I love him, but I could never love him like I love you. And I broke up with him, because I miss your sweet lady kisses, I miss your smile every morning when you wake up next to me. I miss our interesting lady sex, I miss your laugh and your hugs and your voice. I miss being your friend like before, I miss everything about you, because nothing is the same Santana."

"Brittany I miss you too, but this, us, is way too complicated. And last year it proved that we couldn't handle it, that it got rough and that it wasn't easy." Santana replied.

"But since when do _you _stop fighting? It wasn't easy, yeah, but nobody said it would be. And how about all Senior Year? We were great then."

"That was different, we were in the same place. It was still high school" Santana argued.

"Ok, so now we both live in New York and I'm in college, so?" Santana sighed as she couldn't argue with Brittany's logic. She never could, it was so simple that it was always true.

"When you went to Lima in February you were ready to be with me, and now you are not. I don't understand."

"Yeah, because I had nothing figured out. I didn't know what being here would do to me and I thank you for that. But I still don't have everything figured out."

"Me neither, but why can't we do it together? Santana I love you" Brittany said as her last resort and Santana felt her walls come falling down.

"I love you too and that is why I don't want to screw it up. Because Britt, I don't think we will get another chance." She said. And it was then that Brittany realized how scared Santana was.

"San, I'm scared too, but we make each other brave. We can do this."

"Britt I-" Santana tried to argue but there was no point, she just had to tell the truth. "Just give me time, ok?"

Brittany nodded feeling satisfied, "Yeah, of course". It was much more progress than she had imagined, she knew it could take a while. Nonetheless, she was willing to wait for however long it would take Santana to give in to her. She wasn't going anywhere, she wouldn't lose her again.

* * *

"So Brittany's here" Rachel said casually joining Santana in the kitchen.

"Shut up Berry" Santana replied not lifting her eyes from the PB&J sandwiches she was making her and Brittany.

"What? I'm not saying anything" she replied.

"But you're thinking about it." She finally looked at Rachel. "Just because you and Finn got together the night he arrived, doesn't mean Britt and I will do the same."

"Nobody said anything about getting back together" Rachel said in a higher pitch as she lifted her eyebrows suggestively. She was just messing with Santana but she had responded just the way she wanted.

"Ugh I hate you Barbra" Santana called out.

"Mhm" Rachel said with a smirk as she walked back to the living room.

"I think it's so great that you got into Juilliard, Brittany" Blaine said cheerfully, "It is one of the best art schools in the country".

"Blaine Anderson, are you pledging allegiance to Juilliard instead of NYADA?" Rachel asked almost offended.

"Yeah Blaine, don't bite the hand that feeds you" Kurt joined in.

Blaine laughed and said, "I'm not saying that NYADA isn't as prestigious. Juilliard doesn't have a dramatic arts department, and us three, we don't belong there".

"Are you majoring in dance?" Finn asked Brittany while he put his arm around Rachel when she had sat back down with a glass of lemonade for Finn and her.

"Yeah, I think so, I want to be a dancer. I just hope they don't ask me about the Brittany Code, because I've had it up to here with it" Brittany said with a straight face and made Rachel and Kurt laugh.

"Don't worry Britt, you will ace it" Santana said coming to the living room and handing her a sandwich while she sat next to Kurt. Kurt tried to take a piece of her sandwich which made Santana bat off his hand.

"Go make your hands busy elsewhere, Hummel" she said as she smirked at Blaine and made him blush.

Finn chuckled at that and then yawned. "I think I'm signing off for the night" Finn stretched.

"Yeah me too" Rachel said, lifting her head off Finn's shoulder. They stood up from the couch and started going to their room.

"Good night everyone" Finn called out as he parted the curtain dividing the room.

"Goodnight", they all replied.

"Night" Rachel said but stopped before the curtain, "It's nice having you here Brittany" she smiled. "Stay for however long you need".

Brittany smiled back and nodded, "Thanks Rachel".

Santana smiled at Rachel thanking her for being supportive and for making Britt feel comfortable. She didn't know what the future would hold but she wanted Brittany to stay. Rachel nodded back and went to bed.

"You want anything else?" Santana asked Brittany when she finished her food.

"Nah, I'm good thanks."

"Have you guys heard from Artie?" Blaine asked making conversation. "I heard he was getting here before classes started to get everything sorted. That's what Tina told me" the short boy shrugged.

"No, I haven't" Kurt shook his head.

"So, wheels living in New York, huh?" Santana asked sarcastically. "I wanna see how that turns out."

"Maybe we can race him down 5th, us in a horse carriage and him in his wheelchair" Brittany said excited.

"Oh don't say that in front of Rachel or she might kill you" Kurt said with a lower voice.

"Why? Does Rachel not like horses?" Blaine asked.

"No, she hates horse carriages. Something about PETA wanting her to be the face of her horse campaign, or something very Rachel like" Santana said with an uninterested face.

"I think she totally made it up, I highly doubt PETA actually asked her to be the face of their campaign. But she's Rachel" Kurt said.

"I once met a horse carriage, he was nice. But he complained about the horse pulling him too tightly and the man sitting on him" Brittany said spontaneously.

"You mean the guy who drives the horse carriage" Kurt said.

"What, do you know his owner too?" Brittany asked intrigued.

Kurt just stared blankly at her while Blaine looked really confused. "Anyway, I'm pretty beat too" Kurt said changing topic and getting off the couch. "You coming?" He asked Blaine.

"I'll be there in a sec" he responded. Kurt nodded and went to his room.

"When are you starting classes Brittany?" He asked.

"The first week of September" she answered.

"Oh great, that gives us time. Maybe we can go one day to check out NYADA and Juilliard, since we're both new there. They seem to be pretty close to each other" Blaine added leaning forward on his seat.

"Yeah that sounds like fun" Brittany accepted.

"Ok, well I'll leave you two. See you in the morning" Blaine smiled and left the living room.

"Night" both girls called out.

There was a silence after that, not awkward but just, silent.

"You want to do anything else?" Santana asked, trying to think about what it was that they did when they were just friends.

"Right now?" Brittany asked, knowing what she _really _wanted to do.

"Yeah."

But she knew they weren't _there _anymore. "It's pretty late, there isn't much else we can do anyways" the blonde replied.

"I guess. Tomorrow we'll do something fun, ok?"

"Ok" Brittany agreed.

Santana stood up and went to her room to get a couple of blankets and her spare pillow. Brittany helped her set up the couch for her to sleep on.

"Well, if you don't need anything else, I guess I'll go to sleep too" Santana stood up. "The bathroom's over there and feel free to get anything from the kitchen. You can grab some of my cookies, just don't tell the others" Santana said innocently.

Brittany giggled at how cute the comment had been. Santana's gut pulled as she heard Brittany's giggle. God, she had missed it.

"If you need me for anything tell me Britt" she said insistently.

"I'll be fine Santana."

"Ok. Well, good night."

"Good night" she replied and before she could go into her room, she stood up and went rapidly to wrap Santana in a tight hug. "I've missed you, San."

Santana hugged her back and stayed there, trying to keep her knees from turning into jelly from the embrace. "I missed you too" she whispered into her shoulder.

Brittany let her go reluctantly, "G'night".

"Night" Santana smiled softly and as Brittany walked away to the couch, she looked at her longingly even though they were only meters apart, and went into her room.

* * *

Brittany tossed and turned, trying to get comfortable. It wasn't that the couch wasn't pleasant, but she just couldn't fall asleep. Her body was tired, and her eyelids were completely shut because of it. She had boarded a train today, spent all morning on it, had hopped in a cab since she still couldn't figure out the subway system (but would have to learn it soon because cabs were too expensive), gotten to Bushwick, been told that Santana was in Manhattan, took another cab back and walked around Central Park until she found her. Then she had that long talk with Santana and all that happened after. She had a long day, and normally she would have needed to be out like a light, but her mind just wasn't cooperating with her body. She opened her eyes reluctantly and grunted frustrated that she couldn't fall asleep.

* * *

_Santana woke up and she was in her bedroom in Lima. It was the middle of the night so she went to the bathroom. She used the toilet and when she went to wash her hands, she realized that her eyes were still closed, so she blinked a few times to get her eyes used to the light. When she could see better, she turned on the faucet and started to wash her hands. After a moment she noticed that the water coming out of the faucet was red. She stopped and took her hands out of the flow of red liquid and her heart started beating faster. Santana looked at the water for a second trying to understand why it was red. It looked like blood and as she looked closer, the water from the faucet stopped looking red, it was just water. She shook her head at what she thought she had saw and guessed that she was so tired that her mind was imagining things. She turned the water off, and as her hand was near the faucet she saw a flash of red again. She twisted her hand so her wrist was visible and that was when she saw it. From her wrist flowed thick, dark blood. _

* * *

A sudden gasp was heard and Brittany lifted her head off the pillow as a reaction to the sound. It hadn't been that loud that it would wake up the others in the apartment, but it was loud enough so that people that were awake, like Brittany, heard it. She knew who it came from, and it wasn't a gasp like the ones she was dying to hear, it was from fear.

She rapidly got out bed and went towards the room, tearing open the curtain.

* * *

Santana breathed quickly as she lifted her upper body into a sitting position and tried to calm her very fast heartbeat. She ran her hand through her hair and then felt her wrist. Nothing. She was fine. She exhaled one more time but she just couldn't calm down and for the first time in almost two years, she felt extremely afraid.

Brittany entered the room abruptly which didn't help Santana's scare level. She turned to see who it was and when she saw locks of blonde hair, she visibly relaxed.

"Britt- what are you-" she asked but didn't finish as Brittany climbed on the bed and took her in her arms.

"Shh, it's ok, I'm here. I got you" Brittany's soothing voice was heard near Santana's ear. And it wasn't until the blonde's hand brushed her cheek softly, that Santana realized she was crying.

Now being aware of it, she couldn't stop it and she just felt streams of tears fall down in equivalent intervals.

"You're ok, you're ok. I've got you now" Brittany kept repeating as her arms started rocking back and forth slowly with Santana inside of them.

Santana didn't know why she kept crying, it had just been a nightmare. She tried stopping but she couldn't, and as she tried to speak to assure Brittany's concerned face that she was ok, words didn't come out but rather, a giant sob. Brittany held on to her tighter and one of her hands ran through her hair soothingly.

Santana felt the warm and familiar comfort that the blonde's arms granted but she was still trembling with fear. The images of the very vivid dream still flashed through her mind and she could do nothing else than bury her face in Brittany's neck.

"You're safe. I've got you now" Brittany whispered against her hair.

Santana felt the need to do something and purely by instinct she grabbed Brittany's hand and lifted her head so she could see her favorite pair of eyes. Blue uneasy eyes locked with brown watery ones and the brunette desperately said, "Don't let me go".

Brittany looked at her and replied, "Never".

And without breaking their stare, she cupped Santana's cheek and kissed her.

It was soft and consolatory. It wasn't rough or rushed, yet it still managed to carry the passion that only with each other did Santana and Brittany share. Brittany broke away first, feeling it was too soon and hugged Santana very tightly.

The brunette didn't even have time to react before she was kissing her back and by then she didn't want it to stop. In that moment she didn't care that they weren't supposed to be doing this, she needed Brittany like she needed air.

After the kiss, when her chin was resting on her best friend's shoulder, she finally felt herself start to calm down. A few minutes later, she stopped crying and she started to feel sleepy again. She broke away and by just looking at Brittany, she understood and gently laid her head down against the pillow. She got inside the covers, not even wanting to ask if she could, and judging by Santana's grip on her hand, she didn't want her to go either. She snuggled next to Santana and put her arms around her. The other girl turned sideways to face Brittany and rested her head against her shoulder. Brittany tightened her arm against her waist and Santana placed their conjoined hands over her heart. She breathed more evenly and closed her eyes. Brittany finally felt her mind start obeying her body and she closed her eyes too, inhaling one more time the sweet scent that was Santana.

* * *

The soft morning sounds entered through the closed window and the light was already filtering in. Despite it being a Saturday, Brittany could hear sounds outside Santana's room. She was pretty sure that all of the others were already awake, so it must have been kind of late. Brittany reached with one arm and touched the home button of Santana's iPhone on her nightstand and saw that it was already ten-thirty. She and Santana hadn't gotten that much sleep last night, hence the hour. She put her arm back around Santana and shifted very slowly so she could lift her head up from the pillow with her other elbow. Santana was still sleeping soundly and for a moment Brittany just watched her sleep.

It was so natural for her to see Santana sleep after years of waking up next to her. Every time she watched her she discovered something new about the way she slept. Starting from the way her chest rose with every quiet breath, to the little snore she occasionally did. As their relationship progressed she learned new things and the situation changed from Brittany watching her from afar in one of their sleepovers as a kid, to reaching over and kissing her awake when they started dating.

She looked so peaceful and Brittany was glad that she didn't have any more nightmares. Santana had been really upset about it and Brittany felt curiosity about what was it that had made her cry so hard. She had done what she thought Santana needed and after years of practice she knew exactly how to calm her, and it had worked. She had kissed her and she didn't know what it meant for them now because of it. The blonde didn't regret it, she had felt that in that moment it was needed and Santana hadn't turned away which only proved to Brittany that Santana still cared about her.

She needed to do this right, win Santana back and show her that they could learn to love again. They could last this time if she only let her walls down. Brittany was willing to do everything possible to be with her again. She had learned that her world without Santana, just didn't spin correctly. It was like a dance number without music. It just doesn't work.

Brittany got up by slowly rolling Santana to the side until she grabbed her pillow and smushed her face against it. Brittany went out of the room quietly and after she slid the curtain back, she looked up to find four pairs of eyes staring at her curiously. They were all in the kitchen making breakfast but still in their pajamas.

"Morning" Brittany said awkwardly.

"Morning" they all replied.

"So, Brittany. Did you sleep ok?" Kurt's eyes shifted from her to the couch that had been left in the middle of the night. Blaine elbowed him telling him to be discreet but Kurt just glared back.

"Mm, yeah. Thanks" Brittany replied only.

She walked past them two sitting on the table next to Rachel and opened the fridge remembering her task. She bent over to have a proper view of what was in the fridge and she spotted the eggs. She got out two and juggled them with the milk and butter. She closed the fridge's door with her behind and faced them again.

They still had the same face.

"What?" She asked.

"You're making breakfast?" Finn asked.

"Yeah, I'm making Santana breakfast" she clarified when Finn had an excited look on his face.

"Why?" Rachel interrogated her with her cup of coffee in her hand.

"She didn't have a good night so I'm making sure she's ok" Brittany replied putting everything down.

Rachel and Kurt shared a look and Blaine eased the tension by asking, "What are you going to make?".

"An omelette. Where can I find a pan?" She turned around to face them again.

"The cabinet next to the stove" Kurt replied still looking at her attentively.

Brittany went and found one, "Thanks".

For a few minutes there was silence and Brittany focused her attention on making breakfast. While she waited for the omelette to cooke, she grabbed two slices of the bread that was on the table.

"Oh that's my bread. Santana hates it 'cause it's organic. Hers is on the top shelf" Rachel informed.

"Ok, cool" Brittany replied and fetched the bread. She looked at it and chuckled.

"What's funny?" Finn asked with a smile.

"Nothing, it's just Santana still buys the same bread that was always in her house in Lima. She hasn't changed one bit" she smiled.

"Yep, she's still the same old Santana" Kurt said looking over the newspaper.

"Although this one actually likes me, and doesn't steal my boyfriend so..." Rachel said and the others laughed.

Brittany didn't because she didn't get it. Why would Santana steal Finn away? She liked girls. Brittany knew about what had happened with them in the past but she didn't get why Rachel was bringing it up.

She finished buttering up the toast and putting jam on it. Rachel got out a tray for her and she put the plate with the omelette and the toast on it, along with two glasses of juice and a cup of coffee for Santana. She had never liked coffee, less needed it. She was an energizer bunny since she was a kid.

She carried the tray and entered the room to find Santana just waking up. She placed the tray down on her nightstand and got inside the covers with her.

"Hey, good morning" Brittany said sweetly.

"Hi" Santana said back.

"You're feeling better?" Brittany asked as she put a strand of loose dark hair behind her ear.

"Yeah, I feel rested" Santana replied to the touch.

"I'm glad" Brittany smiled as she started to lean in towards Santana.

Before she could do anything, Santana leaned away, "Britt".

Brittany froze and stared back at her, confusion clouding her eyes.

"We can't do this" Santana said sitting upright on the bed.

"But yesterday-" Brittany mumbled.

"Yesterday we had a moment. But we can't let it happen again" Santana argued with all the strength she could find. "I was scared and you were there, but Brittany, I can't let us fall back into that again" Santana struggled to form her words.

"_You_ can't?" Brittany asked.

"Yes, I can't let myself hurt you again" Santana replied.

"Why are you so protective of me? Do you think I'm just this fragile balloon that will burst if you hurt me?" Brittany asked shifting on the bed so she was resting her butt on her own knees. "I'm a grown woman Santana, I think you of all people should know that about me" Brittany exhaled frustrated.

"I know that Brittany. But it's _me _that hurt you and I hate myself for it." Santana replied quietly.

"San, you broke up with me, yeah. And it sucked, yes. I wanted more than anything to stay together, but you were right, it wasn't working." Brittany said as she scooted closer.

"But if we're being fair, I hurt you too. When I went with Sam and sent you here. And we can't forget when you were so brave and honest with me and I chose the lesser guy." Brittany stopped for a second and looked at Santana who had her gaze sternly set on the bedspread rather than Brittany.

"We can't forget the fact that we both have hurt each other in the past. We also can't deny or even forget that our relationship has been far more complicated and dramatic than it should have been" Brittany said while Santana kept looking down.

"But it was also great. Amazing even."

This time Santana did lift her stare. "I had never known love like I knew it with you. You taught me my lefts and rights, literally" Brittany said and got a quiet chuckle out of Santana.

Brittany turned to look at her and saw that her eyes were starting to water. "You were always there for me, since we were kids. You always believed in me, even on the times that _I_ didn't. You never judged me for who I was, you actually embraced it all and made me discover the best parts of me. You opened your heart to me and trusted me enough for me to keep it safe for a while."

"No Brittany, you've _always _had my heart" Santana said as her voice broke and the first tear fell down.

"You see? Santana, you were my girlfriend and I fell madly in love with you. But you were also my friend, my very best friend. You always triumphed Lord Tubbington in that aspect" Santana let out a teary giggle.

"You made me want to be honest with everyone about who I was and made me find the courage to be that person for you. To be that person with you. And together we grew up and you're my life. You've always been and I never want to be away from you again." Brittany said decidedly and grabbed the brunette's hand.

"I'm done being stupid San. I need to grow up and I need to be with you. I will make things right this time, I will fix us. 'Cause we're not broken, just bent." Santana looked at her with hopeful eyes.

"Let's try it again. Let's give us one more chance, because I know this time we won't screw it up" Brittany said full of confidence as she bounced their hands on the bed.

A lot of things had happened since she left for New York. Santana had made her promise that she would go to MIT and wouldn't look back. Because she needed to go, it was what she needed to do. She couldn't turn down an opportunity as big as this one. And most importantly, they both had to learn how to live truly apart, if they ever wanted to save their relationship.

But now, she was here, and saying these things. Could it really be the one chance that sticked? She wanted to become Brittany's hero again, more than anything, but she was scared. But then again it was Brittany...

"I'm scared" Santana whispered squeezing their still conjoined hands.

"Me too" Brittany accepted.

"You think we can really make it this time?" Santana asked feeling hopeful.

"I do. Because we love each other" Brittany replied simply.

Santana took a second to observe how much more mature Brittany seemed. She would love her no matter who she was, but it was fascinating that she indeed had grown up. That could only mean good things for their future. Maybe they could figure it out this time. It was them; anything was possible.

"You won't let me hurt you again?"

"I won't. And I won't hurt you either" Brittany smiled warmly at Santana's indecision. It reminded her of an eight year old Santana.

"You promise?"

"I promise."

There was a brief pause and then Santana whispered, "Ok".

"Ok?" Brittany asked wanting to be sure.

"Ok" Santana assured her.

They stayed staring and smiling at each other until Brittany murmured, "San, I really wanna kiss you right now".

Santana smiled lovingly, "I really want you to, Britt".

The blonde grinned and lighted up the entire room with her smile. Very slowly she placed her left hand on Santana's waist and gently laid her down on the bed. With Brittany on her side she looked straight into her brown eyes as she placed her right hand on her cheek. Unhurriedly, Brittany started to lean in. The pace of it all was killing Santana with anticipation but she couldn't dare to close the space herself. She stroked her left cheek with her thumb as Santana's breath fluttered against Brittany's lips. She looked at Santana's puffy lips one more time before bringing them back up to her eyes. Finding all she ever needed with that look, she pulled the trigger and met their lips.

Santana closed her eyes shut as everything she had been wanting and needing for so many months now, was finally here. Brittany smiled as their lips broke apart but rapidly reconnected them again. It was still soft but it carried the passion that only these two ladies shared.

Once they separated they both smiled and giggled softly.

"I made you breakfast" Brittany said leaning away to point at the tray of food. "Though it's probably cold by now" she pouted.

"I'll go re-heat it", she stood up from the bed.

"No, let's go eat outside. We have nothing to hide" Santana smiled.

Brittany grinned and it made her nose wrinkle from excitement. She lifted the tray from the nightstand and walked beside Santana as they left the room.

* * *

They all ate breakfast and were having a nice time chatting in the kitchen. As Blaine sat on the tall counter with Kurt standing in between his legs, Finn sat next to Rachel, just in front of Brittany and Santana. None of them had anything to hide anymore, because as much as the three couples may want to hide what they were again, it was obvious to the others that their feelings for each other were serious.

There wasn't a point to keep fighting these feelings anymore, especially when they all knew that there would never be someone else. They were each other's home; they were what meant the most. Finn and Rachel were the kind of epic love that against all odds and everyone's opinion they found each other and realized that they were meant to be. Kurt and Blaine were each other's lights in a dark life, because once they met each other everything just seemed to fall into place. Santana and Brittany were the soul mates that even if they hadn't met in this life, they would always find each other in the next, because they would always love each other the most. They all still had a long way to go and a lot to figure out, but they had finally found each other again. And now it was time to stop looking and finally, grow up.

* * *

Hope you liked it! There were no songs in this chapter but if it was like Glee, I imagine that Santana and Brittany could have sung "Just Give Me A Reason" by P!nk and Nate Ruess, when they were both on their rooms and they couldn't sleep. I think it's a great post break up song that any of the couples could have sung perfectly. But anyway you can imagine it :)

Sorry Finchel and Klaine fans that there was no interaction between them this chapter, but since we are done getting everybody together, now we can focus on their growth as couples. I promise from now on they will be pretty equal in storylines between the three couples and only bright things in their relationships.


	4. Chapter 4

Hey, sorry I uploaded it so late. I just coudn't do it. I was actually writing the chapter when the news hit and I just couldn't finish it. I seriously considered dropping the story all together but it was never real anyways, so this will be a nice story of how Glee could have been.

Finn will always have a very special place in my heart, since it was the first character I ever felt somewhat identified with him. Finn was a true hero and I really hope they play out the end of his story well.

Cory was an extraordinary man who taught us all how difficult our own problems can be but that it is always important to ask for help when it is too much for us to deal with. He will always live in my heart and in my memory as that tall, awkward, canadian guy who I once dreamt of meeting. It is still hard after only being two weeks that have passed but I believe that little by little, the sky will start to turn bluer and we will be able to smile by his memory. My heart goes out to the cast and his family, and especially Lea. Cory was a great man in all the aspects of the word and he will never be forgotten. Thank you for everything, Cory. Now up there they have a beautiful drummer angel.

The story will not change as I believe that I intended it to have a happy ending with Cory or without him. It was never in the cards, so why change it. Thank you for reading this and I promise I'll hurry up with the updates to get caught up in schedule. It is exhaustingly long, so enjoy :)

* * *

Chapter 4

After a nice breakfast and seeing how beautiful the weather was outside, they all decided to go sight seeing as Brittany, Finn and Blaine were properly established. They all got dressed and took the train out of Bushwick and into Manhattan. When they got out of it they all stood on the entrance of Grand Central Station.  
"So where do you guys want to go first" Kurt asked putting his sunglasses on.  
"Has anyone seen the Statue of Liberty?" Finn asked.  
"Yeah, Kurt and me went the first week he was here" Rachel replied.  
"Have you seen it?" Brittany asked Santana.  
"Yeah I went with Em-" she stopped abruptly when she realized what she almost said and shared a cautious look with Kurt and Rachel. "I went with a friend" she rather said.  
"Oh so it seems that none of us has gone" Brittany said to Finn and Blaine, oblivious to Santana's stutter.  
"Although maybe we should plan that trip better since it pretty much takes all morning an it's almost two" Kurt said.  
"Yeah, we should plan it on another day so we can all go properly. We'll pack a lunch or something" Rachel proposed.  
"That sounds like a cool idea" Blaine politely said.

"How about the Empire State Building?" Santana said brushing her hair back with her hand.  
"That sounds really cool. Specially since when we came with the Glee Club we didn't get a chance to see it" Finn looked at them all.  
"That was because we came to New York two days before the competition without a set list just so Mr. Schuester could play being a mediocre actor on Broadway" Santana interjected.  
"I still don't know how you managed to write two songs from scratch without any help" Blaine said amazed.  
"Excuse me, we wrote three! Doesn't anyone remember 'My cup'?" Brittany asked almost offended."My cup, my cup. Sayin' what's up to my cup, my cup" Brittany broke down in song in the middle of the New York street.  
Santana joined in laughing, "More of a friend than a silly pup, my cup."  
Brittany started dancing around Santana while she kept laughing and singing with her, "You know what it is, sayin' what's up to my cup".  
Brittany pointed at Blaine who cheerfully gasped while he said "Ahh" with Brittany.  
"Sayin' what's up to my cup. Ahh!" The three sang. Kurt, Finn and Rachel all shook their heads and laughed at how silly the other three were.  
"C'mon, let's go. The green light is on" Santana finished laughing as they crossed the street.

* * *

"The wind!" Rachel shrieked as they stood on the very top of the Empire State Building. Even though it was hot outside, being that high, made the wind soar through and cool the temperature down.  
"Stop being such a girl, Rachel" Kurt teased.  
Rachel laughed and pushed him, "You are not complaining only because you have like three cans of hairspray on your hair that keep it in place".  
"God bless hair products" Blaine said as he wrapped his arm around Kurt's waist.  
"Be glad we're not on our senior prom or you wouldn't be allowed to wear any" Brittany pointed with her finger at Blaine as she dragged Santana by the hand to where their friends were. Finn, Kurt and Rachel laughed while Blaine just glared at her playfully.

"The view from here is so cool!" Finn said getting closer to the wired fence. "You can see the entire island from here!"  
"Where's Bushwick?" Santana asked getting closer.  
"It's in the east so, it should be around-" Kurt said trying to orientate himself. "There" he pointed with his finger to a direction.  
Everyone huddled closer to get a proper look. "Oh yeah! That tiny green area must be the park a few blocks away" Rachel added.  
"I highly doubt it since that probably even isn't Bushwick" Santana shook her head. "New York is huge, and we are standing pretty far from home".  
"Who knows? Maybe it is" Rachel shrugged and stuck out her tongue to Santana.  
Santana laughed at her, "You are such a child! C'mon let's take a picture". She got her phone out and handed it to Finn. Rachel huddled closer as Santana draped her arm around her shoulder and puckered her lips doing a duck face. Santana lifted her left eyebrow and looked at the camera. The camera made a sound and Finn gave it back to Santana for her to see it.  
"It's funny" Santana laughed.  
"I like it" Rachel said.  
"We should all take a photo!" Blaine proposed.  
"Yeah that sounds like a great idea!" Kurt agreed.

A guy in his mid thirties with a little girl in his hands passed by and Kurt stopped him, "Excuse me, hi. Could you take a photo of us please?"  
The guy looked at him and smiled, "Yeah sure". Kurt handed him his phone as his little girl took a hold of her father's leg shyly. Finn went to the back (since he was the tallest) and leaned on the fence. Rachel went in front of him and grabbed his arms when he placed them over her shoulders. Next to him stood Brittany as she hugged Santana closer and she leaned her head against hers affectionately. Kurt went to stand next to Santana and put his arm around her, while his other hand was placed on Blaine's shoulder who crouched a little in front of everyone and next to Rachel, so to speak. Everyone smiled brightly and the guy took the photo. He handed his phone back to Kurt who checked it.  
He lifted his gaze off the phone and smiled at the guy, "Thank you".  
"No problem" the guy said and walked away with his daughter.  
"Can I see it?" Brittany asked and she looked the photo with Rachel and nodded.  
"It's cute".

...

"Let's take a photo, yeah?" Brittany turned to Santana and gave her a hug while she still was able to look at her. "New place, new memories" Brittany smiled.  
"Yeah ok" Santana grinned and leaned in closer. Brittany took Santana's phone out from the brunette's white short's back pocket and turned the camera on.  
"I love that you aren't scared that people might see us anymore" Brittany said softly.  
"I'm not scared anymore" Santana replied looking directly in her eyes. Brittany leaned in and kissed her as Santana shut her eyes closed and pulled her closer. A camera went off and Santana snapped from her daze. She looked at Brittany who had a grin on her face and her phone on her hand.  
"It came out from a weird angle" the blonde commented looking at the phone.  
"Let's take a good one now" Santana chuckled and grabbed her phone. She turned it around so the camera was facing them and pulled Brittany closer by the waist. She surprised her planting a kiss on her cheek as Brittany smiled and the photo was taken.  
They saw it and Santana nodded her head, "I like it".  
"Me too."

...

Blaine and Kurt had left Brittany and Santana on their moment and had started walking around the tower to see other angles from the building. Finn and Rachel were checking out one of the stands with binoculars, so they kept walking. Blaine took Kurt's hand as they saw a spot near the fence without people and stood by it.  
"Look how beautiful Central Park looks from afar" Kurt gushed. "It's huge" Blaine said. "I'm gonna take you there one day" Blaine looked at Kurt.  
"To Central Park?" Kurt looked back at him.  
"Hmm."  
"I've been there before, you know?"  
"Yeah, but you've never been there on a date with me" Blaine lifted his eyebrows. "We will go and have a picnic by the lake, just us. And we can rent one of those little remote control boats and we'll sail it together". Blaine put his other hand on Kurt's waist and Kurt placed his on Blaine's shoulder. "And when the evening arrives, we'll take a horse carriage ride and we'll ride it along the park, with the stars above us." Blaine said as he took Kurt's hand again. "And no, we won't tell Rachel".  
Kurt smiled at him and looked down at their intertwined hands. "That sounds perfect Blaine Anderson."  
"It's a date then."  
"It's a date" Kurt agreed and pecked his lips briefly. Blaine turned to look at the view again and wrapped his arm around Kurt's shoulders.

...

"Look! Binoculars!" Rachel shrieked.  
"Wow, you're really excited about that!" Finn laughed.  
"You have a dollar?" Rachel asked.  
"Yeah, let's take a look" Finn put four quarters in the machine and Rachel climbed on the little step to see.  
"This is amazing" Rachel exhaled, "I can see a person on the street from up this far".  
"Seriously? Ok let me take a look" Finn said as Rachel switched places with him.  
"That is really cool." Finn agreed. "Oh I think I see a guy peeing from his bathroom" Finn squinted to see better through the glasses.  
"Oh let me look!" Rachel said.  
"Oh no! Time's up. Bummer" Finn said lifting his face off the glass.  
"Finn!" Rachel shrieked. "You used up all the time!" Rachel swatted at his arm playfully.  
Finn laughed, "I'm sorry babe. We'll put another dollar in".  
"No, it's fine" Rachel smiled. "You can buy me lunch instead" she bit her lower lip as she swayed next to him.  
"Hmm, what can I get you for a dollar?" Finn put his hand on his chin. "Probably a falafel. I gotta say, I like you in New York, you're cheaper" he teased.  
"Shut up. Ew no. I'm a vegetarian remember?" Rachel shrunk her nose.  
"Aren't there any vegan falafels?" Finn snickered.  
"No! Ok. You're buying me proper lunch" Rachel replied.  
"Fine, ok" Finn cracked up. "You're really cute when you think you won't get your way".  
"You're cute all the time, Finny Bear" Rachel said wiggling her eyebrows.  
"Finny Bear?" Finn made a face, "You only call me that when you're drunk. Are you drunk?" Finn asked.  
"No, you wish though" Rachel laughed. "Then you would take advantage of me getting overly clingy."  
"I would do no such thing" Finn acted offended but smiled at the end.  
"Mhm, maybe later you can" Rachel said seductively.  
Finn's eyes grew bigger from the possibility and Rachel cracked up. "Oh I love you so much." Finn pouted at her tease. Rachel just kissed him in response.  
"I love you too teaser".

* * *

Seeing everything available in the building, they decided to head out for lunch. One of Rachel's cast mates had told her about a local pizzeria in SoHo that was supposedly really good, so they decided to go and try it out. They walked to Broadway St. just a few blocks away and there they got on the subway that took them to SoHo.

They had gotten there around four and since they had had breakfast pretty late, it was more of a dinner than lunch to the guys. Ordering two pizzas to share and a salad for Rachel, they all finished quite full as they exited the restaurant.

It was past five o'clock so they wandered around the SoHo streets feeling the warm morning start to cool a bit down with the afternoon wind.  
"The weather is perfect right now" Kurt sighed as he felt the climate with his arms extended.  
"I'd actually prefer it a bit cooler" Finn said walking beside Rachel and Santana.  
"Wait for February and you'll want to kill yourself with how cold it is" Santana replied.  
"You were already here in February?" Blaine asked straightening his bow tie on his white, short-sleeve button shirt.  
"Yeah I got here that month. And my first week here: snowed in" Santana rolled her eyes.  
"We had to watch so many movies that week; there was nothing else to do" Rachel swayed her hand with Finn's.  
"That and going through all the drawers in the apartment, to "get to know us better"" Kurt said with quotations in the air as he looked at Santana distinctively.  
"Yep, she does that" Brittany nodded.  
"See?" Santana turned to face all of them. "And they were so offended by it. Like they didn't deserve it" Santana said now exclusively to Brittany but loud enough for everyone to hear.  
Blaine and Finn laughed at the comment.  
"Um- No! We didn't deserve it." Rachel said.  
"Don't you start, that with my meddling, your little plastic toy got taken care of" Santana said full of attitude.  
"Santana" Kurt warned knowing Finn was present.

It wasn't like it was a secret but Kurt thought that it had no reason to be brought up. However, apparently, Santana thought it was time to get everything out in the open.  
"You want me to talk about Dr. Who, Kurt? Really?" Kurt closed his eyes and exhaled.  
"San" Brittany put her hand on her arm, "Let them be, no need for us to get feisty". Santana calmed instantly.  
Taking that moment in his advantage, Finn acted as the bigger man. "It's no breaking news that both Rachel and Kurt dated other people after we broke up. The important thing here is that we're together now, and that the past is in the past for a reason, right?" Finn asked.  
"Yeah. We all moved past it and are looking forward now" Blaine nodded. Santana looked reluctantly at them and realized she went overboard.  
"Santana if we're being fair, we all have experience in that topic" Rachel frowned.  
Santana understood perfectly and actually looked guiltily at her and then at Brittany. "I'm sorry, yeah. I have rage" Santana apologized.  
"It's ok, just let's get all along better. Specially if we're going to be around each other for a while" Kurt added.  
Santana just nodded and looked again at Brittany who smiled at her and pecked her cheek to get her to cheer up.

Santana knew that Brittany didn't understand everything to its full extent but she got that she wasn't mad and that she defended Santana while making her see when she was too rough on the edges. She valued that more than anything and Brittany always managed to make a smile appear on her face. She snuggled closer to Brittany and intertwined their arms together and held hands.

The group was quiet after a while, they weren't mad, but silence would do them good. Then sun was starting to set and it was a beautiful afternoon. Finn looked at their quiet faces and knew that they could fight and get unnecessary truths in the open, but they were all friends and they would all be there for each other always. After five years of knowing each other and all they've been through, they could get past everything. They were tight and crazy, Finn realized that all of them had kissed at least two people in the group. And as he thought about how messed up that sounded, he also thought about how if they could get past all of their teenage drama, they could survive living together in New York as adults.

"I don't know where I'm going  
But I sure know where I've been.  
Hanging on the promises in songs of yesterday.  
And I've made up my mind, I ain't wasting no more time."

Finn sang with his hands in his jeans' pockets. He turned to look at everyone who had their eyes on him with the sudden singing. He might have looked like a freak singing on the middle of the sidewalk, but it wasn't like they were all strangers to spontaneous singing in public places. It was what united them, what they knew, so what the hell.

"But here I go again, yeah.  
Here I go again."

Blaine joined in smiling at Finn for picking such a great song. Accompanying the slow rhythm of the song, Santana took a breath as she sang the next part.

"Though I keep searching for an answer.  
I never seem to find what I'm looking for.  
Oh Lord, I pray you give me strength to carry on."

Blaine joined in again as they both sang the next lines together.

"'Cause I know what it means, oohhh.  
To walk along the lonely street of dreams."

Rachel who had been surprisingly quiet, waited for them to finish singing, for her to join in on the next verse. Singing as soulfully as she always did, she took Finn's hand on her right and halfway through the verse, she took Kurt's on her left side.

"I'm just another heart in need of rescue.  
Waiting on love's sweet charity.  
And I'm gonna hold on for the rest of my days, ohhh.  
'Cause I know what it means,  
To walk along the lonely street of dreams."

Brittany and Kurt both looked at their partners with endearment and then at each other when they sang together the chorus of the song.

"Here I go again on my own.  
Going down the only road I've ever known.  
Like a drifter I was born to walk alone.  
And I've made up my mind, I ain't wasting no more time.  
But here I go again."

Rachel took the next line singing with a higher pitch and kept it steady as she kept the note going. Finn played on imaginary drums in the air and Blaine moved his face up and down to the rock sound behind Rachel's voice.

"Here I go!"

Kurt sang the first line of the chorus, while Santana took the second gesturing with her hands as she often did when she sang.

"Here I go again on my own."  
"Going down the only road I've ever known."

Blaine took the next line as he took a step further from all of them walking to turn around and face them as he sang.

"Like a drifter I was born to walk alone."

"And I've made up my mind."  
Brittany sang, spinning both Kurt and Rachel with her two hands.

Finn almost shouted feeling all the energy of the song and taking in all of his friends' smiles.  
"I ain't wasting no more time!"

The next line they all sang together as the all laughed and danced in the SoHo street. Santana put her arm around Rachel as they laughed together and swayed. Brittany and Blaine did a step together and Finn moved with Kurt as his arm fell comfortably around his little brother's shoulder.

"Cause here I go again."

Blaine sang above everybody the second to last line.  
"Here I go again!"

And the they all finished the song together.  
"Here we go again!"

"Yeah!" Finn shouted when they finished and everybody was laughing.  
"That was awesome" Brittany grinned.  
"I missed these spontaneous singing sessions" Kurt said, "It makes me really miss the Glee Club".  
"Poor people that passed us by" Rachel giggled.  
"They can suck it! We sounded great" Santana laughed.

They were just on the borderline of SoHo and they needed to decide where they were heading after.  
"There's a subway entrance just next block, are we heading back home or where?" Rachel asked.  
"Does anyone want to go out?" Kurt asked.  
"Oh I do! I'd love to go to a club and get my moves on" Brittany excitedly answered.  
"I got to know some great clubs when I was working at Coyote Ugly. I know some bouncers that can definitely let us in without fake IDs" Santana offered as they all stopped before the cross of the street.  
"Wait, who doesn't have one?" Brittany turned to look at her friends.  
"I don't" Kurt said.  
"Me neither" Rachel shrugged.  
"You're living in New York and you don't have one?" Brittany asked almost outraged.  
"Well, we don't go out as much" Rachel defended her and Kurt.  
"You're like from the elderly" Brittany's eyes grew big.  
"Just because Rachel and I do not go to disgusting clubs, doesn't mean we don't go out. We used to hang out with older people, but now we don't so, we are learning to adjust" Kurt scratched his chin.  
"Do you have one?" Rachel asked Finn.  
"I do, actually. Puck got me one when we were in Lima last semester, but I never really used it because there aren't many clubs in Lima. Besides, the parties were better on campus" Finn narrated.  
"Oh I still have mine from the time we went to Scandals, do you remember?" Blaine suddenly realized as he told Kurt.  
"Scandals! I loved that place! Britts and I used to go there all the time in Senior Year" Santana grinned.  
"That was a fun place" Brittany agreed. "When we didn't know anything else, it was a great place to have fun and be accepted" Brittany looked at Santana with kind eyes.  
"But I don't think that's gonna work in New York, Blaine. It said you were 33" Kurt told the curly haired boy.  
"You guys were saying how much you missed singing, how about we go to NYADA's karaoke bar. We can all sing and since they know us there we can probably score some drinks with Joe the bartender" Rachel proposed.  
"That sounds like fun, I mean it can't be worst than when us four went there last year" Kurt said.  
"Is it any fun?" Brittany scrunched her nose which made Santana think she was very cute.  
"It is, Britt. I've gone there a couple of times with these guys" Santana laughed a bit at Brittany's face.  
"Will we encounter people we don't want to see there?" Finn asked thinking the same thing as Blaine.  
"No, they're all graduated. I highly doubt they still hang out at their college bar" Kurt sighed talking about Brody and Adam.  
"Yes, come on! Let's go. It's one of my few rare Saturday nights without a performance. And I promise it'll be fun" Rachel tugged Finn's plead short sleeve shirt.  
"Fine ok. I'm in." Finn accepted.  
"Me too" Blaine agreed.  
"You in, B?" Santana asked her sweetly.  
"As long as I can sing and dance with you, then I'm in" Brittany replied.  
"Of course you can" Santana kissed her cheek.  
"Ok well it sounds like a plan! Let's all go home to change and we'll head back to the city again later" Kurt clarified as they all nodded and commenced walking towards the subway that would take them back to the station, ergo, back to Bushwick.

* * *

It was already past eight o'clock and they should have started to leave in a short while if they wanted to be in the karaoke bar by nine-thirty. No matter how fast Finn and Blaine had been ready, it was taking Rachel, Santana, Brittany and Kurt forever. Blaine took his time, gelling up and everything while Finn just showered and got dressed. But both Kurt and Rachel made moisturizing rituals and Brittany and Santana just took a long while.

"God, how much time do they need!" Finn grunted as he threw his head backwards to the back of the couch where he was sitting. "It's already eight-fifteen" Blaine said checking his watch and then adjusting his sleeve under his jacket.  
"Rachel hurry up!" Finn called out.  
"I will be ready whenever Santana and Brittany get out of the freaking bathroom!" Rachel appeared from her room and said the last part to the closed door.  
"Yeah girls, hurry up! I still need to put on hairspray" Kurt said loudly banging the door with his fist.

On the other side of the door Santana yelled back as she was brushing her hair, "Unbunch your panties lady Hummel".  
Brittany looked up as she was curling her eyelashes, "Maybe we should have showered together to save time".  
Santana blushed a bit at her comment and didn't reply. She had a point.

"What are you guys even doing in there?" Rachel said just outside the door.  
"Getting ready, what else?" Santana replied hostilely.  
"Well after what I caught you doing before, I wouldn't be surprised" Kurt said sarcastically.  
"What did you want us to do? Finnocence was taking forever in the shower" Santana said putting her hairbrush down and getting her eyeliner out.  
"Well for starters, getting dressed instead of making out in your room" Kurt said louder than before.  
"Seriously?" Rachel whispered.  
"Yeah you should have seen them, jeez" Kurt replied.  
"Was it worse than that time in senior year when-"  
"Hey!" Santana interrupted opening the bathroom door. "All yours" she faked smiled and flew past them.  
Brittany came out after with a smirk, she was past them when she turned around, "No, nothing beats that time" she winked and entered Santana's room.  
"Oh my god" Kurt said softly with a disgusted face. Rachel just held her mouth open for a moment.

"Honey, they're out. Can you just hurry now please or else we won't catch the last train" Finn said turning his upper body around from the couch to see her.  
"Finn, take a chill pill" Kurt replied for Rachel as she ignored him and went in the bathroom. "Learn from Blaine, he doesn't complain".  
Finn sighed loudly and looked at Blaine.  
He shrugged, "After trying to hurry him up on our first dates and failing miserably, you kinda just learn to wait".  
"You think I should have learned by now." Finn said crossing his leg over his lap. "She wasn't this slow in Ohio though. I think it's the makeover" Finn told Blaine. "The thing is that no matter what she wears or does, she still looks great, so why the hustle, you know?" Finn scratched his scalp.  
"Aww honey, that was cute" Rachel appeared behind him. "But I'm ready." Finn stood up and walked around the couch towards Rachel.

She was standing there with skinny black jeans and a gray top, her hair down and curvy, while she wore heels.  
"Great. You look great" Finn smiled as he kissed her cheek.  
"Thank you. You look very handsome" she said back.  
Finn was wearing dark grey jeans with a blue button shirt and a cardigan over it. "I try" he teased as he leaned down to give her a sweet kiss on the lips.

Kurt came out moments later wearing very tight yellow pants with a red shirt and a black bow tie. "My my, don't you look dashing Mr. Anderson" Kurt complimented Blaine.  
Blaine laughed a bit and stood up as well. Blaine was wearing jeans, a white button shirt with a black leather jacket and a thin black tie.  
"I like your bad boy look" Kurt said.  
"I'm glad. Getting a wardrobe compliment from you is tough" Blaine said getting next to him and putting his hands on Kurt's hips.  
Kurt put his arms around Blaine's neck, "C'mon I like your style".  
Blaine hummed in response and kissed him.

"Ok so let's go" Finn said impatiently. "Who's missing?"  
"Who do you think" replied Rachel.  
"Brittany and Santana stop making out and get out this second!" Finn yelled.  
Rachel looked at him, "I'm impressed".

Santana separated from where she had Brittany pinned to the wall, "God I'm gonna kill those guys" Santana grunted as she broke away from Brittany's lips with a pop sound.  
The blonde laughed, "C'mon they're waiting for us".  
"I'm trying to get my mack on" Santana whined.  
"There's always an after party for just us" Brittany winked.  
"Brittany S. Pierce, what are you saying?" Santana asked.  
"That you might get lucky tonight" Brittany husked in the brunette's ear. And with that she walked away towards the door.  
"Holy crap" Santana exhaled feeling super turned on.

"We're ready" Brittany said as she stood in front of her friends with a short black dress with only one shoulder. She had her hair down and straight, with dark eye liner.  
Santana came just after, placing her bag over her shoulder. The Latina was rocking a very short and tight blue and black striped dress with black boots and her hair curvy and down. "Yeah, yeah. Let's go and start drinking" Santana walked past the five individuals and went to open the metal door to the apartment.  
"Oh so now you're in a hurry" Rachel shook her head as she linked arms with Kurt and they left with her.  
"C'mon guys" Brittany chuckled as she put her hands on Finn's and Blaine's shoulders.  
"Saturday night, here we go!" Blaine hollered as Finn howled in response along with Brittany.

* * *

"How did you get all of those drinks?" Blaine asked as Santana got to their table holding a drink in each hand with Finn behind her with two in each of his hands.  
"Rosario Cruz here and Ben Hamilton got them for us" Santana said putting the drinks down and showing her and Finn's fake ID to everyone.  
"Did you pay for us?" Kurt asked.  
"No. But that was purely the work of Rosario hitting on the bartender" Finn said handing Rachel her drink.  
"Nice work guys" Brittany nodded.  
"Thank you, thank you" Santana smirked as she high-fived Finn.  
"We should go out more often with you two" Rachel said after taking a sip of her drink.  
"I'll just have this one, though" Blaine said.  
"Boo why?" Brittany disapproved.  
"I don't handle well my alcohol" he replied guiltily at both Rachel and Kurt.  
"None of us do" Santana said.  
"If you're referring to that week in junior year, yeah we don't" Rachel said and made a vomiting face and looked at Brittany, who had an apologizing face.  
"I'm not just saying junior year" Santana sat down.  
"When else did you get drunk?" Kurt asked intrigued.  
"Mr. Schue's wedding" Santana said through gritted teeth.

Hopefully for her, Blaine changed the topic, "Besides everything, if all of you are going to be drinking, someone should stay somewhat sober to get all of us home."  
"We won't drink that much, don't worry, drink more than one if you want" Kurt said as Rachel and Finn nodded.  
"Anyways" Finn changed topic. "I'd like to propose a toast" he said raising his cup as the others, who had now seated around their small table, mimicked his action. "To our first night out as new yorkers. And hopefully, the first of many."  
"Cheers!" They all called out and met their cups together and took a sip after.

"So, who's gonna sing?" Kurt asked excitedly.  
"I guess I could sing" Finn said casually as Rachel turned to look at him surprised.  
"You will?"  
"Yeah, why not? Last time we came here, I chickened out. And I'm in such a better place now. I wanna sing, I wanna sing something for you." He showed her his crooked smile.  
Rachel's smile grew wider as her eyes sparkled.  
"Woo! Go Finn" Blaine cheered.  
"Ok, yeah. I'll get up there" Finn said nervously as he stood up and made his way towards the stage. He talked with the guys of the band that were there for a minute or so to clarify his song choice.

The light shined brightly on his face and he had to blink a few times for his vision to get used to it and so he could spot where his friends were.  
He took the microphone off its stand, "Hi, hello. This is for the most talented and special girl I've had the pleasure to meet, and my girlfriend, Rachel".  
He pointed towards where she was and a few heads turned around and Rachel smiled shyly at Finn. The music started playing and he took a deep breath.

"When life leaves you high and dry,  
I'll be at your door tonight.  
If you need help, if you need help.  
I'll shut down the city lights,  
I'll lie, cheat, I'll beg and bribe,  
To make you well, to make you well."

Finn remained standing, clutching the microphone on the stand with his two hands. It had been a while since he sang in front of people; ever since one of those impromptu jam sessions in Lima College with Puck. And as he finished the first verse, his nerves started to go away and he focused solely on Rachel.

"Give me reasons to believe,  
That you would do the same for me."

He took the microphone off the stand and prepared to sing the chorus.

"And I would do it for you, for you.  
Baby, I'm not moving on,  
I love you long after you're gone.  
For you, for you.  
You would never sleep alone.  
I love you long after you're gone.  
And long after you're gone, gone, gone."

As Finn sang with enthusiasm, Rachel grinned back at him. She was so proud of him and the man he had become. She truly believed that there wouldn't be a fallout in their relationship again.

"You're my back bone.  
You're my cornerstone.  
You're my crutch when my legs stop moving.  
You're my head start.  
You're my rugged heart.  
You're the pulse that I've always needed."

They were both brave enough to be there for each other, and that was the whole point of the song. Finn wanted to show Rachel that no matter how crazy her life could become, she would always have her ordinary part with him. Her floor whenever she flew too high. Because no matter how high, Finn would always be there to catch her.

Finn looked around him on the stage and saw that there were a set of unused drums. No matter how much he had changed in the past year, Rachel would always count on that quarterback drummer guy who fell in love with her. He found the sticks and sat on the bench behind the drums.

"Like a drum, baby, don't stop beating.  
Like a drum, baby, don't stop beating.  
Like a drum, baby, don't stop beating.  
Like a drum my heart never stops beating."

He banged on the drums feeling the beat flow through his body. It was seriously the best feeling in the world. He smiled widely at Rachel who was laughing back at him, in her face a big proud smile. It made Finn's stomach shrink from the feeling and he finished the song looking only at her.

"For you, for you.  
Baby, I'm not moving on,  
I love you long after you're gone.  
For you, for you.  
You would never sleep alone.  
I love you long, long after you're gone.

Like a drum, baby, don't stop beating.  
Like a drum my heart never stops beating for you.

And long after you're gone, gone, gone.  
I'll love you long after you're gone, gone, gone."

The crowd cheered loudly at him and he finally focused his gaze on something that wasn't Rachel. His friends were all clapping at him and they had similar faces to Rachel's. Brittany and Kurt whooped with their arms raised and Finn laughed at them.  
"Thanks" he said simply and went off the stage to their table.  
Rachel stood up from her stool and took his hands. Looking briefly at them, she turned her head upwards and met Finn's caramel brown eyes. "That was amazing, thank you".  
Finn nodded at her and leaned down to kiss her more passionately than he would have cared for in public, but he couldn't help himself. He loved her too much. Rachel broke away with her hand resting from the back of his hair to his cheek and looked deeply into his eyes, saying 'I love you' without words.

"I had missed your voice Finn" Kurt said once they had sat back down on their stools.  
Finn laughed, "Thanks, that's a great compliment coming from you, man".  
"No, seriously! It' been a while since I last heard it" Kurt insisted.  
"His voice is perfect" Rachel couldn't stop staring at him.  
"Jeez, Rachel be subtle with the eye-sex" Santana abruptly said. "There's a bathroom over there".  
Kurt, Blaine and Brittany laughed at that.  
"Shut up Santana, you're just jealous" Rachel replied.  
Santana looked at Brittany for a second and then burst out laughing.  
"Jealous! Ha Ha Ha! Good one Rach" Brittany smacked her leg from the laughing. Rachel just rolled her eyes.

"Why don't you get up there Blaine? You and a piano, how much better can it get?" Kurt squeezed his arm over his leather jacket.  
"Me?" Blaine asked as he was caught off guard.  
"Yeah, you should get up there Blaine" Rachel encouraged. "Show all of these NYADA kids what's coming their way".  
"Well I guess I could come up with something" he said.  
"Yeah, get up there, man! It's great" Finn said.  
Blaine agreed and as he took a big gulp of his drink, he loosened up a bit the knot on his tie.

He walked towards the stage and felt his mind go blank. What was he supposed to sing? He was the kind of guy that liked to express what he was feeling with his songs. Suddenly the name of a song came onto his head and thought that although wasn't the best choice, he just felt he had to get it off his chest.

He sat on the piano, and pulled the mic closer to his mouth. "Hello, my name's Blaine Anderson and I'll be joining the NYADA family this semester. Hope to see some of you around there." He cracked his knuckles and straightened his watch on his left hand.  
"This is a song that's been on my head for a while now, so I thought I would sing it today. I hope you like it" he finished and placed his hands on the keys.

"Young and full of running.  
Tell me where is that taking me?  
Just a great figure eight,  
Or a tiny infinity?

Love is really nothing.  
But a dream that keeps waking me.  
For all of my trying,  
We still end up dying.  
How can it be?"

Blaine sang in a really poised way, keeping his emotions at bay and concentrating on the black and white keys. The lyrics however, where kind of a mystery to Kurt. He had never heard it before and he thought that it was too soon in the song to get the underlying message of it all. The melancholy in the music was what worried Kurt. Maybe it was just a song that Blaine had stuck in his head, but he knew how much feeling he always put into each song. If he was singing it, it was for a reason.

"Don't say a word,  
Just come over and lie here with me.  
'Cause I'm just about to set fire to everything I see.

I want you so bad I'll go back on the things I believe.  
There I just said it,  
I'm scared you'll forget about me."

Blaine dared a few looks at Kurt, and though he found a smile, he could see it in his eyes that he was getting the point of the song. Flashes from that night in October last year, made Blaine close his eyes so he could concentrate again. It was all too similar.

"So young and full of running.  
All the way to the edge of desire.  
Steady my breathing,silently screaming,  
I have to have you now."

Blaine looked more powerfully at Kurt after he looked around. The crowd seemed to have a careless face, but the song wasn't directed at them. They didn't know the story, his story, their story.

"Wired and I'm tired.  
Think I'll sleep in my clothes on the floor.  
Maybe this mattress will spin on its axis,  
And find me on yours."

Blaine felt so powerless and he tried to regain that confidence by putting all his emotions onto the song. But his gut was telling him otherwise, it was the same feeling as that night, the feeling that it might not end ok. The feeling that was driving him insane to confess something, to tell Kurt how he was feeling, to get it all off his chest. The only difference was that he didn't feel guilt now, but perhaps that was even worse, because there wasn't anything specific to make him feel like this now.

Finn took a sip from his beer as he looked at Blaine and then at Kurt. Their gaze was distant and it looked like they both were trying very hard to connect it but their eyes just weren't meeting. He pulled Rachel closer with his left arm as she looked worriedly at Kurt. She thought they were ok, they had taken their time getting back together and she thought they had everything settled. She looked back at Blaine who had his eyes trained on the piano now and she actually thought that this song had been even more emotional than 'Teenage Dream'.

As the song went on and Blaine stopped singing to just play the notes of the melody, Santana found herself looking between Kurt and Blaine trying to figure out why did they look so broken. When she found that very familiar grief in Kurt's eyes, it reminded her of how long it had been since she had last seen it. Kurt was a strong guy who never said anything that would give away how he was feeling, but his eyes never lied. And that look was one that Santana had seen a lot of times before in a far away choir room in Lima.

Brittany noticed the concerned face of Santana and immediately kissed her cheek and pulled her closer with her arms around her from behind to give her some comfort. Santana leaned her head against Brittany's and placed her hands over the blonde's arms, just above her own chest.

And as Blaine harmonized loudly just before the chorus broke again, Kurt left out a deep loud sigh.

"Don't say a word,  
Just come over and lie here with me.  
'Cause I'm just about to set fire to everything I see."

He was scared and he didn't know what to do. Kurt's slightly teary and completely filled with worry eyes, were killing him and he had to do everything he could to not stop singing. He banged on the keys as his face fell up and down according to his emotions and the notes on the piano. He ventured another look at Kurt and tried very hard to make him feel what he was feeling. To make him see how scared he was of screwing this again, how scared he was of losing Kurt and how scared he was of never being able to make it right.

"I want you so bad I'll go back on the things I believe.  
There I just said it,  
I'm scared you'll forget about me."

He finished the song and he breathed heavily as he played the final notes. He smiled shortly at the crowd who applauded and when he stood up, the lights hit his face and he couldn't see very clearly. He took this as an advantage and he directed himself to the bathroom as another guy took the stage.

"Wow, that was intense" Brittany said breaking the silence.  
"What did it mean?" Kurt asked looking desperately at his friends.  
"I don't know, Kurt" Rachel said kindly.  
"Oh god it was even worse than last time" Kurt grunted putting his elbows on the table with his face buried in his hands.  
"At least he didn't cry this time" Finn proposed as he lifted his shoulders in a shrug. Kurt looked back at Finn but said nothing as he sighed one more time.

"I wanna sing you a song" Santana suddenly heard Brittany whisper in her ear.  
"You do?" Santana turned in Brittany's arms so she could see her face.  
"Yeah, back in high school and last year even, you always sung to me and I didn't get the chance to do it as much."  
Santana looked at her with dazzling eyes, "Besides, we need a mood lifter after that depressing song" she lifted her eyebrows.  
Kurt glared at her while Rachel cleared her throat as Blaine approached.  
"Oh Blaine Warbler, you're coming back on stage with me" Brittany commanded pointing at the short guy. Blaine looked at her baffled, "I need someone to play the piano" Brittany explained to Santana.

Blaine nodded and they walked up to the stage just before the guy singing finished. Brittany went up with Blaine and she explained which song she wanted to sing. She took the mic off the stand and she took a step further.  
"Hi I'm Brittany, I'm not a NYADA student, so I'll just have to kick your ass from Juilliard" she said as the crowd laughed.  
"I wanna sing this song to my girlfriend who's sitting right over there" she pointed with her finger. Santana blushed timidly as people turned to look at her.  
"This is for you, San." She said and Blaine started playing.

Santana was surprised at the label already, but the fact that Brittany had called her her girlfriend, made her feel butterflies in her stomach.

"Far and wide, I see them searching.  
Day and night, spend their lives looking for,  
Just a little bit more.

Opened the sky, pull down the moon,  
Aimed for the dark, looking for the truth.  
But for me, all I know is,"

Brittany looked at Santana attentively and as she approached the chorus, her eyes lit up and her smile became huge.

"It's always been you, love.  
It's always been you, my love."

She stopped for a second to hum the next part and she took the mic off the stand.  
"Hmmm, hmmm"

She moved her index finger at Santana, signaling her to come join her on stage. Santana looked at her surprised but remained sitting. Her hesitation was all Brittany needed to get down the stage and walk across the room towards their table. With everybody watching, the blonde took the brunette's hand and Santana obliged standing up and walking back with her. Santana took another microphone that was sitting on the piano's lid and smiled back at Blaine who kept playing. She positioned herself next to Brittany and without even bothering to look at the crowd, she locked her eyes with a pair of blue orbs.

"I'll be yours until the sun dies.  
'Til the stars fall from the blue sky.  
All my days, love for a lifetime."

Santana sang as she couldn't hide her smile. Singing with Brittany was the best thing, and it really was a shame that they hadn't had the chance to sing more duets.

"You'll be the tide, I'll be the sea.  
The rise or fall brings you home to me,  
Brings you home to me."

Santana moved in a circle counterclockwise to Brittany as she danced a bit around. God, she could look at her all day. Santana was so glad she had moved to New York. Because now they were truly home.

"It's always been you, love.  
It's always been you, my love.  
It's always been you, my love."  
They sang the chorus together as they never broke their gaze.

"It's always been, always been you, love." Brittany sang the next line softly into the mic in her hand, and with the other she took Santana's and caressed it softly.

"We opened the sky, pulled down the moon,  
We saw through the dark, and we found the truth."

They had been through a lot and they had changed a tad more too, but they had had the blessing of finding each other again. And now nothing else mattered.

"I found you.  
It's always been you, love."  
As the few notes from the piano were heard, Santana looked at her hand intertwined with Brittany's and sang those two lines.

Brittany waited for Santana to look at her and when she did, she finished the song.  
"It's always been you, my love."

The crowd cheered loudly and Santana reached up to kiss the love of her life. Because she was proud of being seen with her. Brittany kissed her back gladly, only to break away and beam with her smile.

"Thank you!" Santana said into the mic and pulled Brittany's hand off the stage. The three friends returned to their table and sat down. Blaine smiled awkwardly at Kurt as he sat down and set his gaze sternly on his vodka-tonic.

"That was great girls!" Rachel squealed. "Almost as better as your 'I wanna dance with somebody' number from Senior Year".  
"Well, we didn't dance here" Brittany commented as she stirred her strawberry daiquiri.  
"We'll get plenty of opportunities to dance, you'll see" Santana told her as she played with her fingers.  
"That was one hell of a song, dude" Finn said with a scratchy throat as he addressed the elephant in the room.  
"Oh thanks Finn" Blaine said simply returning his eyes to his drink.

There was an uncomfortable silence in which the two girls and Rachel and Finn looked at Kurt and Blaine to try and make this less awkward.  
"Umm, Kurt?" Santana broke the silence. Kurt looked at her, "You want to come with me to get another drink, it's on me" Santana said shooting a flirty look at the bartender who was spying her.  
"Yeah, sure" Kurt stood up grateful for the interruption. They got up and went towards the bar.

"Will she get anything now that they saw that she has a girlfriend?" Rachel asked.  
"She'll get more now" Finn said certainly.  
"Mhm" Brittany nodded knowing what he was talking about.

"What the hell was that?" Santana asked as she had flirted for a couple of minutes with the bartender.  
"What? Him? Well, he clearly doesn't understand the Constitution for once, since he's practically giving us free drinks. He's also blind since he can't see that you are in no way interested in the hose monster-" Kurt rambled.  
"No, not him. Blaine." Santana interrupted.  
"Oh" Kurt said fidgeting with his Manhattan. "I don't know, honestly."  
"I thought you guys were ok" Santana said concerned.  
"I thought so too, but apparently not. I mean, the first night he was here we talked it out and I told him that I wanted to be with him but that we both knew it wasn't going to be an easy ride. I seriously thought he was happy" Kurt sighed looking exhausted.  
"He's afraid Kurt, that's what that song was about for me. He's scared of losing you again, of you not being able to trust him again." Santana said thanking the bartender for her curaçao martini.  
"Well that's absurd cause I'm here! I'm his boyfriend!" Kurt said annoyed.  
"But do you trust him?"  
Kurt started to say something but stopped. He ran his hand through his hair, "I don't know. I guess- I don't know".  
"I wanna trust him, I really do, but it takes time. And I love him more than anything, he's everything to me and I never want to lose him again. I know that." Kurt said to her.  
"Well then tell him, tell him that. Make him see that you will trust him, but that you need time. And that that doesn't mean that you don't love him or that you're leaving. But that it means that you're just going to work harder" Santana said and it made Kurt think.  
However, his train of thought was caught short because a familiar voice sounded on the microphone.

"Hi, I'm Rachel Berry and I want to sing this song to the man of my dreams, the man that inspires me every morning when I wake up and who I'm so proud to call my boyfriend." Rachel said all of a sudden and made all her friends look at the stage.

"Nobody here knocking at my door.  
The sound of silence I can't take anymore.  
Nobody ringing my telephone now.  
Oh how I miss such a beautiful sound.

And I don't even know how I survive.  
I won't make it to the shore without your light.  
No I don't even know if I'm alive.  
Oh, oh, oh without you now,  
This is what it feels like."

Finn looked at her adoringly and it reminded her of when she sang 'Without You' to him. Rachel was independent, but her life was so much better with him. She had matured enough to know that this is what she wanted; to be with Finn forever. To be the happiest she had ever been, and to be like that, she needed to feel like this for the rest of her life.

"Nothing to hold but the memories and frames.  
Oh they remind me of the battle I face.  
Without your love, without you I drown.  
Somebody save me I'm going down.

And I don't even know how I survive.  
I won't make it to the shore without your light.  
No I don't even know if I'm alive.  
Oh, oh, oh without you now,  
This is what it feels like."

As the slow acoustic rendition of the song ended she went off the stage and joined her friends at the bar.

"That was great Rachel" Kurt smiled.  
"Thanks, and how about you go and sing to that wonderful man of yours now so you two can be great again" Rachel suggested.  
Kurt looked a little out of it.  
"She's right Porcelain. Go and get him" Santana agreed.  
Kurt nodded decidedly and took a huge gulp of his drink. He walked towards the stage without looking back.  
"Jeez he was thirsty" Santana said looking at his half empty glass.  
"He needed courage", Rachel said. "Joe, can I get another mai-tai?" She said to the bartender.  
"I didn't know you had a boyfriend" the twenty-something guy commented.  
"Yeah, I do. He's my high school sweetheart" Rachel replied with a smile.  
"What a shame. I was thinking of getting you free drinks" the sleazy guy said.  
"Oh, I always have love for you, Joe" Rachel flirted back.  
The guy laughed as he served her drink, "Well in that case, it's on the house" he handed her the glass.  
"You're the best, Joe" Rachel smiled at him. He winked and went to get an order from a guy on the other side of the bar.  
"You know he wants to get into your star spangled pants, right?" Santana asked her.  
"Yeah, but that doesn't mean he will. This way I get free drinks for me and Finn" she said pointing to a nearby closed beer as Joe nodded back at her that she could take it.  
"Nice work Streisand" Santana said impressed.  
"What can I say? I learned from the best" Rachel laughed.

"Oh let's go back, Kurt is on stage" Santana rushed as they got their drinks, left a tip and walked back to their tables.  
Rachel gave Finn his beer and she sat on his legs.  
"That was amazing" he whispered in her ear talking about the song. Rachel just kissed his cheek loudly.  
"You want another one" Santana said to Brittany.  
"No thanks, I want to remember everything from later, tomorrow" she exhaled in Santana's ear. It sent chills down her spine and she actually felt her legs wobble. Brittany smirked at her state and pecked her lips sweetly.

"Hello, I'm Kurt. I wanna sing a very special song to a very special someone, to remind him that no matter how rough it got, we can always find the light at the end of the tunnel. And that I love him" Kurt said boldly.  
There were a few 'awws' heard in the room and Brittany squeezed Blaine's wrist as Rachel patted his shoulder. Kurt shook his head slightly at how much of a girl Brittany and Rachel were, but kept his eyes trained on Blaine. The dark haired boy gulped and nodded trying to avoid tears from falling.

"My love, we have seen it all.  
The endless confession, the rise and fall.  
As fragile as a child,  
Lately I'm sorry I can't hold a smile.

My love, can you give me strength.  
Somehow I forgot how to ease my pain.  
I know I'm right where I belong.  
Something from nothing never proved me wrong.

I would share my whole life with you.  
Would you do the same for me?  
I would give all I am to you.  
Would you do the same for me?"

A tear fell down from Kurt's eyes as he saw how broken Blaine looked. But he wanted to make everything right and show Blaine that everything was going to be ok.

Blaine knew that Kurt was trying hard but he needed him to reassure him. Because he couldn't deal hurting Kurt again.

"And I will stand tall to get by.  
No matter how hard I try to hide.  
Could you see I've been brave?  
Did you notice all my mistakes?  
There were times I could feel you read my mind.

Did you know I take the time for you?  
Did you know that I could see right through yeah,  
Did you know that I would play the part?  
I must have made it clear right from the start."

The crowd applauded and Kurt looked longingly in Blaine's direction.

* * *

At around 1 in the morning they decided to call it an early night and they took a walk around Central Park heading towards the station. They were quiet as they strode below the moonlight filtering through the trees. They weren't walking as a group, instead they walked with their loved ones next to each other. Finn and Rachel were ahead, she was holding Finn's arm as her other hand was holding his. Brittany and Santana strode hand in hand while Kurt and Blaine were a bit behind.

"You sounded great" Kurt said breaking the long silence.  
"Huh?" It had been a while since they spoke so it caught Blaine by surprise. "Oh thanks" he said.  
"You're gonna kick butt at NYADA. I won't be surprised if you win the Showcase competition on your first year, just like Rachel" Kurt complimented him.  
"I highly doubt it" Blaine chuckled.  
"Well don't. Start believing in yourself, Blaine. What happened to that confident Warbler that I met three years ago" Kurt looked at him.  
Blaine kept his eyes cast down, "A lot of things actually".  
Kurt took a moment, "Blaine, I know why you sang that song. I know you're scared, but you have nothing to worry-"  
"No, I do. It's gonna be sooner rather than later that I break your heart again" Blaine interrupted kicking a stone.  
"Why do you keep saying that? Blaine-" he looked at him. "Look at me" Kurt commanded and Blaine reluctantly did with his hands in his pockets. "We have a lot to work on, but I promise you that we'll figure it out. Little by little."  
"You don't trust me" Blaine said sadly.  
"I do, Blaine. Not like I did when I first met you, but I do. And it's all part of a process. Everything happens for a reason and we both had faults in our breakup. I wasn't there for you" Kurt accepted. Blaine was still looking down and Kurt saw that a tear was forming on his eye lashes.  
"You needed me more than ever and I wasn't there. But now we can learn from it and make sure we don't screw it up" Kurt stopped walking and Blaine did as well.  
"I love you" Kurt looked into Blaine's hazel eyes. "And I trust you, and I need you more than ever" Kurt said taking his hand. "We'll make it through. Just give us a chance. Will you do that for me?"  
"Of course, Kurt. You're the love of my life and my best friend and my everything" Blaine said with tears in his eyes.  
"I love you so much, Blaine."  
"I love you too" Blaine said and he desperately kissed Kurt.  
"Blaine, I need you" Kurt said as he separated from Blaine's mouth breathless. Hazel eyes looked deeply on his blue-green eyes slowly understanding what he had meant. Blaine just nodded nervously and kissed him again.

...  
"I wanna hear you sing in the bar you work at" Brittany said as she swayed her hand with Santana's.  
"I'll take you Wednesday. I'm gonna sing that day."  
"Ok" Brittany happily accepted. "We killed our duet."  
"Baby, we kill everything we do" Santana smirked.  
"Yeah we do" Brittany laughed. "I'm glad I moved here" Brittany said after a moment.  
"I'm glad too" Santana smiled. "Are you nervous for Juilliard?"  
"A little. But it's what I love to do, so I think it will be more fun than nerve racking. I know it's very competitive but I plan on giving all of them a run for their money" Brittany said confidently.  
"You will, you're an amazing dancer. You're the best dancer in like, ever" Santana said proudly.  
"Duh" Brittany teased.  
"But when you're rich and famous, don't forget about me, ok?"  
"I could never. Because you'll be rich and famous too. You're the definition of talent. We'll be happy and successful, together. You'll see" Brittany looked at her.  
"Britt-" Santana said not knowing what else to say. Brittany always amazed her with her words.  
"I love you, San."  
"I love you, B."

...

"I'm proud of you, you know?" Rachel said breaking the momentary silence.  
"You are?"  
"Yeah, because after all you've been through, you never cease to amaze me. I had a much easier childhood than you did. I had two parents, and although too many people thought we were very dysfunctional because I had two dads, we made it work. And that made it a whole lot easier when growing up. I was picked on because of it and it made me a stronger person but I never had trouble because of it. But you did and still, you always got up, despite of every set back and every no. And you have no idea how proud that makes me." Rachel looked at him.  
"In four years, you're gonna be the best teacher, seriously. You will inspire so many kids to be just like you. Because you are not ashamed of everything you've been through. You are a leader 'cause you lead the way and set the example. You inspire me everyday to be a better person and in the future, I'll be proud to walk the red carpet beside my boyfriend or whatever else we might be then. I'm proud of the man you've become Finn, I'm proud of loving you. And not just for singing to me today, but for everything you do, every single day."  
Finn just looked at her, trying to figure out what to say. Those sparkly brown eyes were everything he needed. "I _was_ proud to sing to you today and you're the one I'm proud of more often" Finn replied.  
"I love you."  
"I love you more."

* * *

Once they got to the apartment, the six friends were very anxious to be alone. They said goodnight, and each couple went to their rooms. It all started with a tender kiss which soon grew to something deeper and eventually they all found each other lying horizontally on a bed.

"Finn wait" Rachel said stopping his hand that was wandering lower than before. Finn looked at her confused but understanding.  
"I won't lie to you and tell you that I didn't have sex with Brody, 'cause you know I did. But I really wish I hadn't. And although I cared about him at one point, I never shared with him what I did with you. With him it was just sex, and with you-" Rachel stopped and looked deeply into his eyes.  
"Finn, with you I made love. And even on the wedding where we supposedly only hooked up, it was much more to me."  
"For me too" Finn took her hand.  
Rachel nodded and smiled. "Did you?" Rachel drifted off.  
"Did I sleep with anyone else?" Finn finished for her. "No" he replied simply.  
"You didn't?" Rachel asked caught off guard.  
"Why is it surprising?" Finn asked.  
"No, it's just that I thought that since you were in college and going to all those parties, and you were living with Puck. I just thought maybe you would have."  
"I had opportunities, but I never felt the need to actually, do it, you know?" Finn replied sweetly.  
"Can I ask you why?" Rachel was still a bit surprised.  
"Well there were a lot of girls, and of course Puck brought home friends, but I just-" Finn stopped. He took a second, "They weren't you".  
Rachel sucked her breath at Finn's words, "Finn- you take my breath away".  
"I wanna do this with you Rachel, only you. You will always be the one. My biggest mistake was to not wait for my first time to be with you. I can't change that, so I wanna make sure that you're the only one for the rest of forever. I just want you."  
"I just want you too" Rachel took his hand and placed it over her heart.  
"Wow, it's beating really fast" Finn nervously said.  
"I know" Rachel chuckled. "I love you Finn", she met their foreheads together.  
"Make love to me" Rachel said with clear eyes.  
Finn gulped, "I love you too". He leaned in and kissed her passionately, slowly lying her down as they let their feelings take over.

...

"Kurt wait" Blaine stopped him as their breathings staggered. "Are you sure about this?"  
"Of course I am" Kurt said instantly. "Blaine, I want you, I need you. And I know we've had our troubles, but I want to do this. You're the only one I've ever been with and I would like to keep it this way" Kurt said softly.  
Blaine's face fell down.  
"Hey, hey, no. Look at me" Kurt took his chin and lifted it for him to meet his eyes. "We can't change what happened. It was a mistake. But we are going to move away from it."  
The brown haired boy stopped for a second and took a deep breath, "Blaine feel this" he took his hand and placed it over his own naked chest. "What is this?"  
"It's your heart" Blaine responded quietly.  
"Mhm, and what do you feel?"  
"I feel it beating really fast, but steady" Blaine replied looking at Kurt.  
"Yes, a steady heartbeat. It's beating fast because your kisses mess it up, but-"  
Blaine giggled a little.  
"But it's steady, always beating. Always beating for you. My heart belongs to you only and it forever will. And when it's a little beaten up when I'm old and wrinkled, it will continue to beat steady for you." Kurt squeezed his hand over his.  
"Yeah, ok" Blaine exhaled. "I haven't been with anyone else after the wedding" he clarified.  
"Me neither" Kurt nodded.  
They looked at each other, "It's been a while".  
"Yeah I know. I'm nervous" Kurt said.  
"I'm nervous too" Blaine confessed.  
They looked at each other and laughed a little. "It's not like it's our first time again, we can do this" Kurt laughed as he met his forehead with Blaine's.  
"One step a time. That's how we did it" Blaine whispered.  
He looked into Kurt's almost blue eyes through the dimmed light and saw he was scared. He was terrified too, but he had to do this for Kurt.  
"I'll lead the way" he said softly as he caressed his cheek with his thumb. He leaned slowly forward and kissed him. He let Kurt start to loosen up as he kept on kissing him slowly. Blaine placed his hand on Kurt's back, feeling his muscles tense below his fingers. Kurt grabbed the hem of Blaine's tank top and he lifted it over his head. Blaine kissed him more deeply and slowly Kurt's head touched the pillow. As both Blaine's arms stayed beside Kurt's head, making him stand up above him, Kurt placed his around Blaine's neck and made him relax his arms so their chests met.  
"Make love to me" Kurt whispered.  
The scary part faded away and only the feelings remained, because there in each other's arms, they were safe.

...

"Britt wait" Santana stopped her as her hand started to wander below her dress.  
"What's wrong?" Brittany asked concerned.  
Santana sat up and backed a bit away from her. "Before we do anything, we have to clarify some things."  
"Ok."  
"I haven't really been with anyone for a while" Santana said very softly from pure embarrassment.  
"Oh don't worry." Brittany said casually, "When we were doing the long distance thing, I did myself too, don't worry".  
"What?" Santana asked all of a sudden feeling out of sorts by the comment. "No, no I didn't do anything-"  
"Are you sure? 'Cause I found the batteries by the nightstand-"  
"No! Britt, ok no. Listen to me" Santana laughed.  
Brittany laughed too but stayed silent.  
Santana took a deep breath, "A few weeks before you went to MIT, I met someone. It was after I had arrived here and we were ok, but not exactly on the best terms. She was nice and I thought she could potentially become something more than a friend. And I remembered you saying to me to get a girlfriend, to find someone. And we went on a couple of dates, but I just couldn't do it. I broke up with her before anything could happen. I just kissed her, we didn't have sex. And I probably would've but your words- your words haunted me- and I knew that I could never be anything with anyone, at least not then, and definitely not now. Because I love you, and I don't want anyone but you. Britt, Emily never meant anything more than a friend, and not a friend like you. Not my best friend. I don't care about her anymore, 'cause I love you, and you only." Santana finished completely out of breath.  
Brittany just looked at her for a second. "San?"  
"Yeah?"  
"Breath."  
"Yeah, ok" Santana exhaled loudly feeling so much lighter.  
"It's ok. I told you to meet other people, it's ok Santana" Brittany assured her. "I actually wish I'd waited, now you have on a lot to catch up on" she smirked.  
Santana's smile fell. It was time to tell her. "Well I actually did sort of sleep with someone" she confessed only above a whisper.  
"Oh" Brittany said.  
"At Mr. Schue's wedding I had the brilliant idea of drowning my jealousy of you being with Sam on liquor. I got very drunk, and well you know how I don't think straight when I drink and well one thing led to another and-" Santana sighed.  
"I slept with Quinn."  
Brittany's eyes grew huge, "Oh, ok. Ok. Quinn. You slept with Quinn".  
"I'm sorry, I know it's terrible but we seriously weren't thinking. I regretted it so much later-"  
"No, it's fine. I mean I was dating Sam, I have no right in giving you a hard time because of it. It's seriously ok, Santana" Brittany patted her knee. "It just took me by surprise."  
Santana nodded relieved.  
"We should invite her!" Brittany suddenly said.  
"Ew no!" Santana said.  
"Come on, we were called the unholy trinity for a reason, San."  
"No Britt. Gross" Santana laughed.  
"Didn't know she liked the ladies too" Brittany wondered.  
"She doesn't. It was just a one-time-drunk thing."  
"Well, who am I to talk" Britt said. After a silence, "San, I only did it with Sam."  
"I know, Britt" Santana nodded.  
"I wish I hadn't though."  
"Yeah. Me too."  
"But mistakes are part of life. And now, I've messed it up enough that I know I only want you." Brittany said pushing her blonde hair back.  
"We both got around a lot before, and it took too many times to know that it was never like it was with you" Santana smiled warmly.  
"Girls are the best, aren't they?" Brittany inclined her head.  
"No, you and I are the best" Santana replied.  
"Was it _that_ bad with Quinn?" Brittany asked.  
"Britt" Santana warned.  
"Tell me!" Brittany squeaked.  
"Let's just say that she didn't know where everything was."  
"Damn! Hahaha and on her first try!" Brittany rolled on the bed with laughter.  
"I don't think there will be a next" Santana laughed as well.  
That only made Brittany laugh harder, "Poor you!"  
"Britt, stop being mean, cut her some slack" Santana laughed.  
"No, on all seriousness, I love you and the important thing is now" Brittany focused.  
"I love you too" Santana pecked her lips. Brittany stared at her eyes and the brunette noticed how dark her eyes were.  
"San?"  
"Yeah?"  
"It's been a few months for me too. And you're making it impossible for me to keep having this conversation with the rambunctious twins over there" Brittany pointed out.  
"You remember" Santana cooed.  
"Of course I do. I remember everything about you" Brittany said getting closer.  
Santana got lost in her blue gaze.  
"San, can I please kiss you?"  
"What are you waiting for."  
Brittany looked at her lips one more time before leaning in.  
"You think they'll hear us?" Santana said backing away momentarily.  
"Does it bother you?" Brittany asked.  
"Well-" she was cut off by some sounds.  
_"Oh Rachel!"_ Finn moaned.  
_"Blaine! Right there!"_ Kurt said in a high pitch moan.  
Brittany and Santana looked at each other and their eyes grew big, this made them burst out laughing.  
"Oh my god" Santana laughed.  
"They're going at it!" Brittany rolled laughing. They laughed for a minute or so and Brittany said, "You wanna do this?"  
"Let me just get those two disgusting images out of my head" Santana made a face.  
Brittany looked deeply at her, "Just fade them out".  
Santana nodded feeling that nothing was funny anymore. She leaned over and kissed her and as Brittany's dress went over her head and hers went under her feet, Santana grabbed Brittany's face. "Make love to me" she whispered.  
Brittany kissed her senseless and knew that moving to New York had been the best decision. Because feeling Santana's heartbeat on her own chest was where she belonged. Forever.

There were three different stories and each of them came from different places and were in different circumstances. But it led them to the same place, New York. They could fight, they could lie and cheat, but at the end, their love was true and right and they all deserved to be happy. And the truth was that they were only happy if they were with each other. Their journey was just beginning and together, they would figure it out.

* * *

There were a lot of songs, the first one was 'Here I go again' by Whitesnake.

Finn's song was 'Gone, gone, gone' by Phillip Phillips. I wrote that part before Cory so it wasn't my intention to have that meaning. It was about his love for Rachel rather tham him being in everybody's heart forever. But now I think it's the song that defines both Cory and Finn, and I'll think of them from now on when I listen to the song.

Blaine's song was 'Edge of desire' by John Mayer. I love this song! I actually think 'against all odds' was the perfect klaine song, but they had to ruin it by making Blaine sing it to Sam. LAMEEE!

The Brittana duet was 'Always been you' by Marie Hines. They should sing this in the show. Brittana duets FTW!

Rachel's was 'This is what it feels like' by Armin Van Buuren. I think this could become a great modern slow cover of the song. Glee rocks those. Like 'without you'...

And Kurt's was 'My love' by Celine Dion.

Hope you liked it and sorry for the wait. Leave a review and follow me at twitter and tumblr at gleebull.

Ths chapter is dedicated for Cory. Thank you for everything, big guy. Always in our hearts. Rest in peace.


	5. Chapter 5

Hey! Sorry for the waiting but I wasn't at home for two weeks and the internet at the hotel sucked. But at least I got the chance to write. I really wish I could be posting these more often but my productivity these days is amazing (and not in the good way). I'll try and hurry up with the 7 chapters left. I already have started 6 so hopefully by Monday I'll post it. It is a fun and dramaless chapter just to explain how their lives are getting more settled and how their ordinary days work. Thanks for reading and if you are so kind, leave a review. I'll reply them to say thanks. Hope you like it and enjoy!

* * *

Chapter 5

Back to reality. As magical as those two weeks had been, school was starting and the six guys needed to start their lives again. They were adults now and they needed to start living like them, because they were on their own in New York.

Even though it wasn't even six-thirty in the morning, everyone was already up, because it was the first day of school. Three of them were starting at new schools, and some of them had jobs now, which they needed to go to in order to earn cash.

"Kurt, move. I'm so late" Rachel rushed through the kitchen trying to find the sugar for her coffee.

"And that's my fault?" Kurt asked as he was fetching the cereal.

"We all have crazy days ahead, let's not lash out on each other" Blaine politely reminded.

"Well, everyone except Santana who's the only one who doesn't go to school" Kurt snickered.

"Shut up lady pants, I work" Santana immediately responded.

"When you make as much money as she does, you can talk" Brittany whipped back. Santana high-fived Brittany in response.

"Ok, so babe?" Rachel said closing her coffee container. Finn looked up, "I'll see you for lunch outside of NYU at 1, yeah?" Finn nodded. "I finish rehearsal at 12 so that will give me enough time to head over there". She put her purse over her shoulder and grabbed her schoolbag.

"Yep, see you there" Finn smiled.

"Good luck on your first day" Rachel caressed his cheek softly. "Thanks, I'll tell you all about it at lunch" Finn said standing up and walking her to the door.

"Ok, so I'm off to NYADA." She said. "Love you".

He pecked her lips briefly, "Love you too".

"Goodbye everybody, good luck today" Rachel said looking towards the kitchen. Everybody just nodded or hummed in agreement.

"Bye" he closed the door and Rachel was gone.

"Blaine, are you ready? We really need to go now if you want to head to campus before I go to Vogue" Kurt called out to the bathroom where Blaine was.

"A-most do-" Blaine said with a mouth full of toothpaste.

"You're going to Vogue right now?" Brittany asked spooning her coffee.

"Yeah, I'm gonna walk Blaine to NYADA and make sure he knows where to go and then I'm heading to Vogue by eight. I have classes in the afternoon." Kurt explained, "Isabelle and I worked out a neat schedule. You?"

"My first class is at nine, so Santana and I are heading over for breakfast in the city first and then I'll go to Juilliard" Brittany replied.

"I need to go in to the bar later, Leo asked me to stop by, before I head to lunch with Rachel and Finn" Santana said.

Finn nodded.

"Who's Leo again?" Blaine asked entering the room with his bag over his shoulder.

"The owner of the bar. I think he has some business propositions for me" Santana shrugged.

"I'd love to sing at a bar. Maybe there's a spare job for me there?" He asked with a little kid's face.

"Pfft" Santana scoffed. "You're nowhere near as hardcore to work in a bar."

"I could surprise you" Blaine challenged.

"Mhmm, we'll see about that" Santana raised her eyebrow.

Blaine laughed, "I'm ready Kurt. Let's go".

Kurt finished his cup of orange juice and set it down on the table. "Ok, see you later girls, have fun!" He said as he headed towards the exit.

"Wish me luck on my first day" Blaine said excitedly.

"Oh me too!" Brittany said happily.

"Me too!" Finn joined them.

They all finished saying good luck to everybody and Blaine and Kurt left.

"I actually need to get going too" Finn said standing up and putting his dishes in the washer. "I'm off. Santana, do you want to meet us at the place or at NYU?" Finn asked putting his wallet and cellphone in his jeans pockets.

"At the place" Santana replied.

"Ok, so see you there. Bye Britt, show everybody who's the best dancer, all right?" Finn said with one feet already outside the apartment.

Brittany laughed, "Will do, you teach all those weirdoes who's the best teaching to be a teacher" she said a bit confused at the alliteration in her sentence.

Finn blinked, "Yeah, sure. Thanks!" He rather said and left.

"So, baby? Are you ready to kick ass at Juilliard?" Santana clapped her hands.

"Hell yeah!" Brittany said excitedly.

It would be a great day for all of them.

* * *

"You'll be ok?" Kurt asked weary.

"Yeah, of course! Stop worrying" Blaine put his hand on Kurt's shoulder.

They were standing just outside the main entrance of NYADA. "You've already shown me the campus three times and I just have a few classes today. Then I'll go look for a job, because god knows I need the money" his eyes went wide. "I know how to move around the city. Stop worrying" he smiled at Kurt.

"Yeah I know, you'll be fine. But if you need anything you know where Vogue is or call me for whatever. And if I can't answer because I'm at a meeting or something, call Rachel or Santana. You have their numbers. Or Finn, call Finn too. Or Brittany on last measure-".

He was caught off guard by Blaine's lips on his.

"I'm gonna be fine. Relax." Blaine said once he broke away. Kurt had a flushed face. "Go to work and have fun. I'll be at school."

Kurt nodded but didn't move.

"Go! Come on" Blaine rushed.

"Fine, all right. Learn a lot. And sing a lot. Just, be your wonderful self" he sighed as he straightened his polkadot bow tie.

Blaine smiled at the gesture, "I will. I love you, Kurt. I'll see you at home tonight".

"I love you too" Kurt smiled and leaned down to kiss him. "See you tonight."

"Yeah" Blaine agreed and hugged him really tightly. "Thank you for everything. I'll go make you proud" he whispered into his shoulder.

Kurt smiled as he started to walk away from him after they broke the hug.

"Bye" Kurt said and Blaine turned around to wave. He entered the glass door of the big building and Kurt sighed, turning around and heading towards Vogue.

* * *

Finn stood before the building of his department in NYU and looked up at it. Even though it was a normal building in New York, to Finn it looked huge. Apart from the fact that Lima didn't have big buildings like these, before him stood his future. His way to prove everybody how capable he was at being successful. His chance at becoming a man for Rachel, a man for his mom. He would conquer, that was his mission and he wouldn't let himself down. He could do this; he _would _do this. He straightened his strap on his backpack and walked decidedly.

* * *

"Britt, you got your cellphone right?" Santana asked concerned.

"Yeah, San, you asked me four times already" Brittany rolled her eyes but smiled at her.

"Call me whenever, I'm just gonna go with Leo and then I'm technically free" Santana reminded her.

"You've mentioned it. Go have lunch with Finn and Rachel, Blaine and I have back to back classes until two so we'll grab lunch then. I'll head home after my dance class at four."

"No, I'll pick you up, there. That way you can tell me all about your day" Santana said squinting her eyes because of the ray of sun that was hitting her directly.

"All right" Brittany agreed.

"I'm gonna miss you babe" Santana said playing with Brittany's hoodie strings.

"I'm gonna miss you too, but I'll see you later, and I promise you extra cuddle time tonight to make up for it."

Santana smiled sweetly back at Brittany. She was seriously perfect.

"Ok well go, because you're gonna be late. Good luck and work hard. Kick all of their snotty asses, ok? You're the unicorn. Never forget that" Santana said truthfully.

"I won't. I love you, San" Brittany hugged her really tightly. "Thank you for everything" she said in her shoulder.

Santana squeezed back and let her go. "Love you too."

Brittany grinned and entered the building skipping.

Santana smiled and crossed the street.

* * *

Brittany and Blaine sat on a bench in Lincoln Center. Blaine had walked over there from NYADA and met Brittany for lunch.

"Well what do you see yourself working in?" Brittany asked with her mouth half full from her sandwich.

"That's the thing. The work I'm looking for doesn't necessarily have to do with what I want to do after college." Blaine replied.

"But wouldn't it be easier to just get a job you like and that pays?" Brittany said.

"I wish it was that easy, Britt" Blaine sighed.

"Honesty I just need something that pays right now. I can't let Kurt keep paying for everything. He has two jobs! That's not fair. He should just stay at Vogue because that's what he loves and not have to worry about being a waiter in the holidays to get extra money" Blaine took a sip from his lemonade.

"His dad helps him a lot, though, right?" Britt asked.

"Yeah, and that's even worse because Burt is such a great man and I don't want him to think that he's supporting me too. Besides, I need to help my parents pay for the NYADA tuition, it's way too steep" Blaine said concerned.

"Just don't fret it, all right? Take your time looking for a job, but don't let it get you down. It'll all get settled eventually, we're just starting" Brittany said supportively.

"I guess, thanks" Blaine smiled at her. "What about you?"

"I found this dance academy just a few blocks away, it's not affiliated with Juilliard and it's for little kids or people who just want to learn to dance. And there's a job opening to be an instructor. I just need to know how to dance, so I guess that if they see that I'm already studying dance at Juilliard, they'll think I'm qualified enough." The blonde shrugged.

"That sounds great!" Blaine said.

"Yeah, actually I should head over there right now to ask them when can I come in for an interview or something. You wanna come with me?"

Blaine checked his watch, "Yeah I still got time. Let's go". They stood up and threw their lunch trash at a nearby trashcan.

"Do you think they'll ask me about my alien abduction?"

Blaine looked baffled.

"I've never been on an interview before" Brittany explained.

"No, they won't. And you should probably not mention it either" Blaine adverted his eyes.

"Ok, yeah" Brittany said as they kept walking.

* * *

"Hey! How did it go?" Rachel rushed towards Finn.

"It was- ok, I guess" Finn said kind of down spirited.

Rachel automatically picked it up, "Why? What happened?"

"I don't know I think I just-"

"Hey guys!" Santana interrupted when she arrived at the restaurant. They were standing outside of it, on the street and Santana greeted them loudly from the start of the block. Both of them turned around and waved back at her.

Finn spoke before Santana could hear, "Can we talk about this later? It's no big deal, I just don't want to discuss it with Santana".

Rachel understood, "Yeah, ok. We'll talk tonight at home".

Santana arrived, "Hey, so, let's go eat.

...

They finished eating and it was time to go back to their activities.

"I'm so full" Santana stretched her arms once they were outside the restaurant. "Is anyone heading home?"

"I gotta go to NYADA. I have my first class at four, and I'll be home by nine I guess" Rachel checked her schedule on her phone.

"I have one more class and then I have to go job hunting, but I'll head back to Bushwick to start looking first for something closer to the apartment." Finn said. "You're going back home right now?"

"I'm picking up Britt at Juilliard at five, so no. I actually wanted to check out NYU, see if it's a cool place to hang out" Santana said discreetly.

Finn frowned, "Are you thinking in enrolling at NYU?"

"No, I just want to check the place out" Santana said defensively.

"Ok, well I'll show you around a bit, I have half an hour before my next class starts" Finn suggested.

"All right, yeah" Santana accepted.

"I gotta go now, before the traffic hits and I can't find a cab" Rachel said as he kissed Finn's cheek. "I'll see you at home. Just, relax and have fun. Think about how you're there to learn and to make your dream come true. Forget about everything else" Rachel said vaguely so Santana couldn't catch anything. Besides the point that she didn't even know what was bothering Finn, but this way it showed her concern.

"Yeah, thanks" Finn said gratefully.

"Ok" she nodded looking at him. "Bye Santana" she waved and walked away.

"Are you two always _this _supportive every time you say goodbye?" Santana smirked.

"Shut up" Finn said. "Come on, I'll take you to the main plaza" Finn said dragging Santana with a hand on her back.

* * *

"Hey!" Brittany greeted Santana as she saw her leaning against a tree just outside the building.

"Hey! How was your first day!" Santana asked.

"Mm, it was great!" Brittany kissed her hard.

"Oh, I missed you too" Santana giggled when Brittany deepened the kiss.

"Let's go home. I'm all sweaty after all the dance classes" Brittany said breaking away and dragging Santana towards the subway entrance.

"Britt, slow down" Santana laughed. "We've got time."

"Ok" she said slowing down.

Santana took her hand and walked beside her. "Now, tell me. What did you do today."

"It was awesome, San!" Britt smiled. "The teachers are so good, it's overwhelming. And there are so many good dancers. And although they are competitive, they are super nice! They don't care if I'm not smart-"

"Britt, you are smart. The smartest, never forget that" Santana said.

Brittany smiled, "I know San. What I meant is that here, nobody cares about math or science and numbers. We all come to dance and that's what matters".

Santana's heart clenched from seeing Brittany so happy. She deserved it. She deserved the world.

"I'm glad Britt, I'm so glad that you found your place. It's just the start of great things that will happen to you. You'll see" Santana smiled.

"Thank you San. And you'll be there, every step of the way. I'm not letting you leave again" Brittany said softly.

"I won't" Santana kissed her sweetly. "Ok so which classes did you take?" Santana asked as Brittany chattered away while they entered the subway.

* * *

The night came and everyone but Rachel came home. She got a call from her director telling her that she needed to come do some interviews at the theater. So after her classes ended, at seven, she went to work again. She called Finn to tell him that she would be late so he shouldn't wait up for her. However, she promised to talk in the morning about what was making him upset.

Blaine had gone looking for standard jobs but the ones he found, the pay wasn't enough for him to stand on his own. So he kept looking. He was however stopped in front of the Abercrombie and Fitch store and the guy out front, told him that they were looking for openings if he was interested. When he told the story to Kurt, he said that the guy was hitting on him, but Blaine really thought they had an opening for a job. Therefore, he put that thought in the back of his mind.

Brittany had gone with Blaine to the dance academy and they scheduled an interview for Thursday for Brittany to come in. She told the news to Santana while they were on the subway and the Latina had been really proud of her and told her that she would help her get ready for it.

Both couples arrived home as well as Finn and they all had dinner, that Kurt and Finn cooked. They talked about their day and watched a F.R.I.E.N.D.S episode. When they were tired they went to sleep and got ready for the next day.

When Rachel arrived, Finn was already asleep so she just kissed him goodnight and went to sleep beside him. She made a mental note to wake up early to make sure she talked with him.

...

Rachel opened her eyes and saw that light had already entered the room. She rolled to her side and found Finn's pillow empty. She stood up and saw him sitting at the edge of the bed, looking absentmindedly out the window. Rachel reached over to him an placed her arms around his neck, from behind and kissed his cheek.

"Hey, what are you doing awake already?"

Finn took her arms, "I couldn't sleep".

Rachel frowned, "I'm sorry I got here so late last night. But we can talk right now" Rachel sat back on the bed, close to the headboard.

Finn shifted and laid next to her, with his elbow holding his head up.

"What's bothering you?"

"Yesterday I got there ready to kick ass, to make everybody proud. I sat there for my first class and as I tried to pay attention to what the teacher was saying, I just looked around and everybody looked so eager, so ready. I couldn't answer one question, Rachel. Everyone's so good and capable and prepared. And here I am, a troubled figure of a man, from _Lima, Ohio_. Everybody comes from big cities and knows so much. I can't compete with that" Finn said exhausted.

"How am I supposed to thrive like that? I'm not good enough. I can't do it. Maybe I should just drop out and get a decent paying job."

"Woah, woah, hey, no. Where is all of that coming from?" Rachel asked kneeling closer.

"From the fact that I can't do it" Finn replied giving up.

"You can, and you will. Finn, nobody said it was going to be easy. Of course there are people who are going to be better prepared than you. Everywhere you go, you'll always find people who are better than you. How do you think I felt the first day at NYADA? People were so good it was overwhelming. I was all alone in the biggest city of the world and I doubted so much of myself that I was going crazy. But I figured it out, and you will too. Kurt came and I didn't feel as lonely. And you have all of us here. You have your brother and his kind boyfriend. And Brittany and Santana, they're in their own little world but they're here for you. You have me and I will help you get through every step of the way" Rachel put her hand over his knee.

Finn had his gaze set on the quilt.

"Finn, the fact that people are more prepared than you doesn't mean that you won't be successful too."

"But I won't be the best. I'm tired of settling. I need to be the best one out there. I need to do it, for you, and for my mom and to prove to myself that I _can_ do it" Finn looked at her.

"There, you just said it. You _can_ do it. You are a smart and dedicated guy that will give all of them a run for their money. But that's not what sets you apart from the others" Rachel said gently.

"It isn't?" Finn asked with a small voice.

"No, what sets you apart is the fact that you have heart, Finn. You went through a lot to figure out what you wanted to do and that made you see that you want to _inspire_ people. How many of your classmates can say that about themselves? You want to change lives and to help kids find their way. That's pretty spectacular if you ask me. You have courage, you're a leader, Finn. Maybe you're not gonna be the one with the best grades, but you will be the best teacher. Because you care. Who is the best teacher you've ever had?" Rachel asked.

"Mr. Schue, duh" Finn replied obviously.

"All right, and what was it about Mr. Schue that made him the best teacher?"

"That he didn't worry if we lost or won, he taught us that it was about the journey. About becoming better people. He helped me find my way and because of him I joined Glee Club and I met you and all of my best friends. He made me see that I was capable of so much more than being a quarterback. He taught me how to dream." Finn replied looking out the window again.

"Exactly. There could have been much better show choir coaches than Mr. Schue. Ones that were better prepared or more experienced. But what makes him the best teacher is not that he was the best in his field, it was that he was the best one to show us how important we all were. He didn't care if we were the best singers, but he _did_ care if we were the best people." Rachel's words remained in Finn's mind for a while as they went quiet.

"You care, Finn. And that makes you an extraordinary man. You're not afraid of making mistakes, and you know how to not make them again." Rachel moved closer and took his hands.

"It takes time and it takes patience, but one day you will see that it was all worth it." Finn nodded and kissed her. "Are you feeling better?"

"I am, thanks. I don't know what I would do without you" Finn leaned his forehead against hers.

"I'm your girlfriend, it's my job to tell you how special you are" Rachel smiled. Finn leaned in again and kissed her.

In the middle of their kiss, the door was burst open and Santana entered. "When you're done making out, we got a situation out here."

Rachel broke away and rolled her eyes. Finn's head just fell down as it did every time this happened.

"What's wrong now?" Rachel asked.

"Lady Hummel out there, doesn't want to acknowledge the fact that he's taking all the damn space in the bathroom cabinet and now no one has space" Santana explained in a loud voice.

"Hadn't we already fixed that problem last week?" Finn asked leaning his head on the headboard.

"Yes and we made a deal" Kurt barged in their bedroom. "We agreed that the person who had more products would deserve the bigger space. Ergo, I got the larger cabinet" Kurt said.

"So then what's the problem?" Rachel asked.

"That _J-Lo_ went out to buy like 15 hair products that she doesn't even need" Kurt said loudly in Santana's direction, who was standing next to him. "Just so she could take the bigger space."

"We agreed that whoever had the more products, would get the bigger space, you never said that we had to use them all" Santana threw her hands in the air as she faced Kurt.

Rachel exhaled loudly and got out of bed to put on a sweater.

Santana and Kurt kept yelling while Brittany stood on the side and said "Stop the violence" in a very monotone voice. Blaine was trying to mediate the situation by trying to convince Kurt that the fight wasn't worth it. Rachel sighed and went to the kitchen to try and mend at least one of their concerns, breakfast.

Finn put on some socks and he went to stand by the door, looking at the scene. He could be worried about his future, but he knew that he would figure it out. He had his Glee Club with him and that was more than enough for now. Finn remained standing with his arms crossed and smiled, because in that moment and in the middle of the mad yelling about who needed the more space in the bathroom, Finn knew that he was home.

* * *

A few weeks went by and they all got used to their new lives. They learned each other schedules and had a whole system worked out for complicated days. Rachel worked Thursday through Sunday with evening shows and had a matinee show on Wednesday and Sunday. It was a lot of work but she couldn't complain because she had never been happier. She loved what she did, performing and being on Broadway, it was her dream and she couldn't believe that she had made it true at nine-teen. She still worked hard at her classes at NYADA because she still had a lot to learn. Rachel didn't spend as much time with Finn as she would have liked, but Finn understood her career and they made sure to cherish the moments alone. Mondays and Tuesdays had become their favorite days since it was the weekend for Broadway actors. Finn received help from Carol and Burt and that was how he paid for college but he got a job a week after classes started as a pizza delivery guy in Bushwick. The pay was decent and it was just a few nights a week (fortunately for them, they were the same nights that Rachel worked) and he could use that money to pay rent and lunch and his bills. He still got a small allowance from his mom, but with the job, he could stand so much better on his own. Slowly he started to see that Rachel was right and he became determined to become the best teacher. He studied hard and learned a lot and by October, he felt that he could do this.

After having to eat off of Kurt's lunch for a week, Blaine desperately accepted the Abercrombie and Fitch offer and became a greeter. He was embarrassed by it and of course, Santana organized a trip in which she took everybody to shop at Abercrombie when Blaine was working. They all had a great time, except Blaine but he didn't have a choice because the pay was good. NYADA was being a challenge but he felt very comfortable in the environment. Not once did he regret applying there because being on stage was where he belonged. Having Blaine with a job, made things easier economically for Kurt. So he started going on fewer catering services and focused more on Vogue and working its events as a paid volunteer. Isabelle got him some of these events and Kurt was happy to learn from them, as well as listening for any auditions out there. Blaine and him had a pretty solid schedule and that helped a lot with their trust issues that were slowly dissolving completely.

Brittany got the job at the dance academy and worked Mondays, Wednesdays and Thursdays. Occasionally she gave a class on the weekend when there wasn't anyone else to give it. The pay was quite nice and she felt independent for the first time in her life. Santana was so proud of her and would sometimes sneak in and watch her dance or would attend hers instead of her ballet lessons at NYADA. The brunette had been earning more money ever since her boss had gotten her a gig to play at a wedding. She started doing an event per weekend when that couple recommended her to their friends and they recommended her to their other friends. Four weddings later, she was asked to sing at the Plaza for some rich couple. She had met them before and they told her if she could get one more singer, a guy voice just so there was more balance musically. Funnily enough, the first person that entered her mind was, Blaine. She knew he wanted to do more than be an Abercrombie shirtless guy that stood outside of the store, so she decided to ask him.

They were all sitting on the living room when Santana decided to ask. "Blaine, I have a proposition for you."

Blaine looked at her with a puzzled face.

"I know you're miserable at your job, so I have an offer for you."

"What makes you think that I'm miserable?" Blaine asked with too much pride to accept the truth.

"Oh come on, your job is embarrassing. You stand outside with a bathing suit on when it is almost snowing, trying to lure rich white girls or cougars that don't accept their fate, into the store." Santana said boldly.

Kurt stared at her with big eyes while Blaine remained silent.

"You are a performer, Blaine. You sing really well and one day you will be almost as talented as me" Santana said with sincerity.

"Everyone in this business started with embarrassing jobs before they could rise to the top. God knows I did. But it's time for you to move on from it."

Blaine exhaled knowing all she said was true, "What did you have in mind?"

"I just got your warbler acapella ass a job to be a singer with me at a wedding in the Plaza, this Saturday" she said whipping her hair.

"Oh my god! Are you serious?" He asked excited.

"Damn straight" she looked around and everyone had amazed faces. "Are you in or are you in?"

Blaine looked at Kurt who smiled back at him. "I'm in!" Blaine said excitedly.

"Santana that's awesome" Finn said.

"Yeah, thanks Santana" Blaine kindly said.

"That's not all. Since I have full power of my mexican third eye, I could get Brittany and Kurt access to the party as our dates. So you'll be able to hear us sing" Santana explained with her arms crossed.

"Yay! Party time!" Brittany lifted her arms.

"Yes! I love to dress up!" Kurt applauded.

"What about us?" Rachel said. The other two couples turned to look at them.

"Oh, no, I couldn't do that. Don't get greedy Rachel" Santana shook her head.

"I'm pretty sure it won't be that cool" Kurt said apologetically.

"Yeah, it's just the Plaza, like whatever" Blaine said.

Rachel and Finn both narrowed their eyes. "Yeah right. You are bad friends" Finn said.

Rachel stood up and walked with Finn to their room.

The two couples stayed looking at each other and then burst out laughing.

"The Plaza, baby!" Brittany shrieked and they all howled.

* * *

_"Brittany, Santana, we're playing monopoly, it's your turn!" _Rachel shouted from the living room.

"Mhmm, baby" Brittany broke away from Santana's lips.

"No" Santana said reattaching her lips with Brittany's, knowing what Brittany wanted to do.

"We- should go -play with- them" Brittany said in between kisses.

"Mhmhm" Santana said no.

"They're waiting, San" Brittany broke away.

Santana grunted and sat up from in between Brittany's open legs. "Let them play. I don't want to play. I wanna _kiss_ you" Santana whined.

"You can kiss me anytime you want" Brittany said with kindness.

"I wanna kiss you now" Santana said and it only took a second of Brittany's hesitation for her to kiss her again. Letting her take control briefly, Brittany conceded; Santana was kissing her and she never could break away easily.

"Girls, it's your turn- Oh my god!" Rachel entered their bedroom.

"Berry get out! Santana spat angrily. Brittany just looked like she had been caught with her hand in the cookie jar.

"Oh my god. I didn't see anything. I'm not seeing anything" Rachel blushed with her hand covering her eyes.

She started walking away, "Rachel! Close the damn door!" Santana yelled as she saw that the three guys were looking in their direction.

"Shit, sorry. Sorry!" Rachel closed the door, or rather, the curtain.

Santana exhaled in frustration as her face fell.

Brittany took her hands off from around Santana's back and sat up a little. "That was awkward."

"God, I swear I can't take it anymore" Santana said upset as she started to put her shirt back on and zipped up her jeans.

"Wait where are you going?" Brittany asked as she walked out of the room.

Santana marched angrily through the living room.

"Santana, I'm sorry. I didn't know you were-"

"No, stop it! Just shut it" Santana snapped. She went to the window, lifted it and climbed outside, to the fire escape. Their apartment being on the fourth floor of the building, had access to the roof and Santana used it often. Nobody else really went out there.

Brittany gave her a minute and then she put back on the items of her clothing that Santana had taken off her. She went out into the living room and just smiled acknowledging Rachel's constant sorry. She knew it wasn't her fault. Brittany went to the window knowing exactly where Santana would be.

She found her sitting with her knees up, staring at Manhattan from afar. She sat next to her and gazed at the view.

"Manhattan can be great, but you don't get this view from there" Brittany said after a moment.

"That's because you're in it" Santana said roughly. She rapidly took it back, though. "I'm sorry, I didn't mean it. I'm just- frustrated."

"I get it" Brittany said. "They can be overly pushy sometimes."

"They're overly pushy _everyday_. They don't let me have one minute with you alone" Santana exhaled.

"They're our roommates, San, our friends. Our family. They are a pain in the ass, but they're what we have here and you know they're pretty great" Brittany looked at her.

"No, I know. I just miss- I miss you" Santana looked at her now.

"I'm here" Brittany said.

"I miss Lima, how it was in Lima. Our Friday night dinners. Our sleepovers, spending an entire afternoon in your room, even if we didn't do anything. I just miss how it was before" Santana admitted.

"Well San, life changes. You and I changed. I'm in college now and you have a job, we live in _New York_ for crying out loud. Things do change" Brittany put her hand on Santana's knee.

"I like this change, but I just wish that they would let me spend more time with you. Like it was before, just us" Santana linked her pinky with Brittany's.

The blonde looked down at their hands, "Come on, get up".

"Where are you going?" Santana asked looking up at Brittany standing.

_"Take my hand"_ Brittany sang as she held her hand for Santana. _"I'll teach you to dance."_ Santana smiled taking her hand and stood up from the ground.

_"I'll spin you around, won't let you fall down_." Brittany took her right hand and spun her around to then dip her down. Santana shrieked and held onto her tightly.

_"Would you let me lead? You can step on my feet."_ Brittany put her other hand on her girlfriend's waist. Santana looked at her undecidedly but Brittany squeezed her hand to make her look at her eyes.

"Britt, I know how to dance" Santana said.

"Ah, ah" Brittany shook her head. "No speaking, just singing."

_"Give it a try, it'll be alright"_ Santana carefully put her feet up on Brittany's.

_"The room's hush hush and now's our moment. Take it in, feel it all and hold it"_ Brittany took a step with Santana on her feet. She was distracted gazing down.

_"Eyes on you, eyes on me."_ Santana looked at her.

_"We're doing this right."_ Brittany paused her step and when Santana started to lean in she moved rapidly with her.

_"'Cause lovers dance when they're feeling in love. _

_Spotlight's shining. It's all about us._

_It's oh, oh, all,_

_About uh, uh, us._

_And every heart in the room will melt._

_This is a feeling I've never felt,_

_But it's all about us"_

Brittany waltzed around the roof with Santana on her feet as she giggled loudly with a smile. When the chorus ended, Santana took her feet off Brittany and pulled her closer.

_"Suddenly I'm feeling brave._

_Don't know what's got into me,_

_Why I feel this way." _

Santana placed her chin on Brittany's shoulder and they swayed very gently.

_"Can we dance real slow?_

_Can I hold you, can I hold you close?"_

Brittany hugged her tightly and then separated slightly to see her eyes.

_"Do you hear that love? They're playing our song"_ She sang softly.

_"Do you think we're ready yet? Oh, I'm really feeling it"_ Santana sang back.

_"Do you hear that love?"_

_"Do you hear that love?"_

_"'Cause lovers dance when they're feeling in love._

_Spotlight's shining. It's all about us."_ Santana sang softly.

_"It's oh, oh, all!_

_Hey, hey, hey."_

Brittany took her right arm and spun Santana away from her, only to pull her back into her embrace

_"And every heart in the room will melt"_ Santana sang a bit out of breath when she landed back into Brittany.

_"This is a feeling I've never felt._

_But it's all about us."_ Brittany looked into her deep brown eyes and kissed her.

"Britt that was awesome" Santana laughed as she hugged her tighter.

"No matter where we are, it will always be about us. They can be in our life and our life can change. But you and I will always remain together. You can't lose me, I'm here forever. You will always be my first, and only love" Santana looked at her with eyes filled with amazement and love. "Ok?"

"Ok" Santana nodded. She pecked her lips, "I love you so much, Britt".

"I love you more."

* * *

"Hey nice to see you again" Santana shook their hands. "This is Blaine, he's my singing partner. Blaine, this is Eric and Julie, the happy couple" Santana introduced Blaine to the newlyweds.

"So nice to meet you. Thank you for letting us sing at your wedding" Blaine shook their hands.

"Likewise. No problem, Santana told us great things about you and after how she sang at out friends' wedding, we had to hire her" Julie said.

"Oh, stop. It's a pleasure to sing for you" Santana said the cotton candy melting out of her mouth. Blaine looked at her funnily wondering why she was being so nice.

"Thank you for letting us bring our dates" Blaine said.

"Sure thing; we're happy to" Eric said.

"Well, you better get ready for your grand entrance. We'll go and call you in" Santana said.

"Ok yeah" the couple agreed and went to stand by the door that opened to the salon.

"Why are you being so nice" Blaine asked Santana.

"They're _paying_" Santana replied as if it were the most obvious thing ever.

"Oh right" Blaine said knowingly.

"Hey! You look great" Kurt and Brittany entered the room. They were all dressed up. Santana was wearing a black tight dress and Brittany a light blue one. Both Kurt and Blaine wore tuxes.

"Their dates are here" Eric said looking at Blaine and Santana from a distance.

"Something doesn't quite add up though" Julie said.

"What do you mean?" Her husband asked.

"She looks like a tough girl and her boyfriend, doesn't look like a match for her" she said referring to Santana with Kurt.

"Oh I know, the blonde girl doesn't fit with Blaine either." While they were seeing them, Brittany pecked Santana's lips and Blaine pecked Kurt's.

"Oh, now it makes sense" Julie said putting two and two together.

"Guys, go in now, 'cause we have to present the couple" Santana said and Kurt and Brittany entered the room.

"Let's do this Blaine!"

* * *

"Ladies and gentlemen, may I present you Mr. and Mrs. West" Blaine said into the mic. The people applauded as the couple entered.

"Now they will share their first dance as a married couple" Santana said. The couple took the stage as Blaine started singing.

_"You're a falling star, You're the getaway car._

_You're the line in the sand when I go too far._

_You're the swimming pool, on an August day._

_And you're the perfect thing to say."_

Santana carried on.

_"And you play it coy, But it's kinda cute._

_When you smile at me you know exactly what you do._

_Baby don't pretend, that you don't know it's true._

_Cause you can see it when I look at you."_

_"And in this crazy life, and through these crazy times._

_It's you, it's you, You make me sing._

_You're every line, you're every word, you're everything."_

They both sang the chorus as the couple danced away.

_"And I can't believe, uh that I'm your man,_

_And I get to kiss you baby just because I can._

_Whatever comes our way, ah we'll see it through, _

_And you know that's what our love can do."_

Blaine looked at Kurt as he sang and winked at him. Britt and Kurt were standing in the back as they only had access to the party. Kurt grinned at him and placed his own hand on his heart.

_"And in this crazy life, and through these crazy times"_ Blaine carried on singing.

_"It's you, it's you, You make me sing._

_You're every line, you're every word, you're everything."_ Santana smiled, her eyes on Britt. The blue eyed girl, just swayed next to Kurt without leaving her favorite brown eyes.

_"You're every song, and I sing along."_

_"'Cause you're my everything._

_Yeah, yeah."_

As the newlyweds kept dancing, Blaine and Santana harmonized the last lines and finished with a round of applause.

_"So, La, La, La, La, La, La, La, La, La, La, La."_

"Everybody, Mr. and Mrs. West!" Blaine clapped.

...

The night went on and a few hours later, when everybody was up on their feet on the dance floor, Santana took a break and went to dance with Brittany as Blaine was left on stage doing his thing. As Brittany and Santana twirled around laughing, Kurt arrived.

"Ladies, it has appeared that we have some crashers" he said.

"What do you mean?" Santana asked but got her answer when Rachel and Finn appeared. "What? What are you two doing here?" Santana spat.

"We wanted to go out so we decided to come here after Rachel's performance tonight" Finn explained.

"No, no, you decided to _crash _here" Santana talked with her hands moving.

Suddenly a wheelchair wheeled next to her. "And you brought Wheels!?"

"Hi Santana" Artie said adjusting his glasses.

"Artie! Hey! How's it been?" Brittany gave him a hug.

"I've been good, thanks for asking. You?" He smiled.

"I've been great" Brittany replied.

"I can't believe you guys crashed into the Plaza" Santana scoffed.

"Santana, relax. No one will know" Rachel said.

"Yeah, cause the guy in the wheelchair is totally Super-Agent 86 undercover" Santana said sarcastically.

"You _can_ get kicked out, though" Kurt said adding perspective.

"We can get fired! And never called for another event again" Santana complained.

"Nothing will happen. In every wedding there's a crasher, everybody knows that; that's like textbook" Finn said.

"Since when are _you_ concerned about rules?"

Santana turned her head, "Oh my god, Quinn!" Santana shrieked.

In the background Blaine started singing.

_"I was there to witness,_

_Candice__'__s inner princess._

_She wants the boys to notice,_

_Her rainbows, and her ponies._

_She was educated,_

_But could not count to ten,_

_How she got lots of different horses,_

_By lots of different men._

_And I say."_

She hugged the blonde. "What are you doing here?"

When she broke away from the hug, Brittany immediately grabbed her wrist and pulled her into her arms. Santana stepped back as she landed in Britt's arms and looked up at her curiously. Brittany just lifted her eyebrow, but Santana could see the jealousy in her eyes. She couldn't help but smirk at that.

"Who do you think had the idea to crash?" Rachel said.

"I had the weekend off so I used the pass that Rachel gave me" Quinn shrugged.

"Ugh, Fabray if it wasn't you I would totally kick you out with your stupid friends" Santana said. Brittany's arm tightened around Santana's waist.

"Britt! I haven't seen you since last thanksgiving" Quinn said going to hug the former cheerleader.

Brittany reluctantly peeled away from Santana to hug her back. "Nice to see you too, Quinn" she smiled.

Blaine kept singing, dancing with his feet as he gripped the microphone.

"_Liberate your sons and daughters._

_The bush is high,_

_But in the hole there__'__s water._

_As you win,_

_She__'__ll be the hollywood love._

_And if you don__'__t feel good,_

_What are you doing this for."_

"Well as much as I think crashing the party wasn't the best idea" Kurt interjected. "Santana, they're here and we can't do anything about it. So let's just go dance, 'cause my man up there is _killing_ it".

"Fine. Just don't follow Blaine or me around so they don't think you came with us" Santana said with her hand on her forehead. "And I swear that if you ever pull this stunt on me again, Quinn, I will go all Lima Heights-"

"On my ass, yeah I know" Quinn finished for her and she rolled her eyes. "I just wanted to see my friends and we're all kinda living near each other again, so I thought it would be fun".

"It is fun, we had never crashed a wedding before" Rachel said excitingly as Finn nodded with a similar face.

"That's 'cause you're pathetic" Brittany laughed. Quinn, Santana, Kurt and Artie burst out laughing.

"Is that so?" Rachel raised her eyebrow. "I'll just have to kick your ass on that dance floor, Brittany."

"You couldn't do it even if I was unconscious" Brittany laughed back.

"Now it feels like the good old days" Artie sighed happily.

"Right? This was a good idea" Quinn smiled.

"Anyways, just stay out of my hair. Come on, Britt. Let's dance" Santana ended the conversation and pulled Brittany back to the dance floor as she pointed two fingers from her eyes towards Rachel. Everybody just laughed back.

_"Hey ho here she goes,_

_Either a little too high or a little too low._

_Got no self-esteem and vertigo,_

_'Cause she thinks she__'__s made of candy._

_Hey ho here she goes,_

_Either a little too loud or a little too close._

_There's a hurricane in the back of her throat._

_And she thinks she__'__s made of candy."_

"I know what you were doing back there" Santana said with a smirk.

"What?" Brittany asked playing coy.

"You were jealous" Santana grinned, not being able to hide her state of being.

"Me? Jealous? Pfft" Brittany looked away.

"Don't deny it, I know you were" Santana laughed and squeezed her arm.

"Fine, ok. I was jealous. I know I have no right because I was with Sam back then, but yeah, I was. She comes here and crashes our party after she knows what she did with you and that you and I are back together. So yeah, I was jealous because I should be the only one who gets to think about you that way and see you and do things that way with you" Brittany finished breathing loudly.

Santana blinked and there was silence, Brittany opened her mouth but closed it.

"You're the only one, huh?" She raised her eyebrow.

"Well yeah, you're _my _girlfriend and little Miss Yale over there, should know that" Brittany said.

Santana blinked again and kissed her hard. Brittany's eyes fluttered closed and Santana whispered, her breath still vibrating on the blonde's lips. "That was super hot. You being jealous is super hot."

Brittany smiled and leaned back into her again.

_"Hey ho here she goes,_

_Either a little too high or a little too low._

_Got no self-esteem and vertigo,_

_'Cause she thinks she__'__s made of candy."_

Santana and Brittany danced until the song ended, while somewhere on the other side of the room, Finn spun Rachel around. He was still the worst dancer, but Rachel couldn't have cared less. It was her Finn. Kurt did his shimmy-shimmy classic thing as Quinn danced around him and Artie, who was doing his legendary moves with his arms.

_"Hey ho here she goes._

_Either a little too loud or a little too close._

_There's a hurricane in the back of her throat._

_And she thinks she__'__s made of candy." _Blaine ended singing and he smiled as he loosened his black tie.

* * *

"Finally I get to dance one number with my ridiculously attractive boyfriend" Kurt said to Blaine as the band was playing without any of them singing.

"I missed you too" Blaine said sweetly.

"How can you be so cute?" Kurt bit his lip.

"Kurt are you drunk?" Blaine laughed.

"Tipsy, at most. I gotta say, that Quinn is a terrible influence, if you think I'm drunk, you should see Artie and Rachel" Kurt pointed with his hand.

Rachel was spinning Artie around in his chair as Artie screamed "This rocket ship is taking me to the moon!" Rachel hollered and Finn tried to get her to stop because Artie's face was already starting to look greenish.

"Well there goes Santana's speech about laying low" Blaine laughed.

"Anyways, I don't need to be drunk to tell my boyfriend how in love I am with him" Kurt patted Blaine's chest.

Blaine opened his mouth in astonishment. It maybe was the alcohol talking but Blaine knew that Kurt was telling the truth, and that made him extremely happy.

"I love you too" he smiled as his eyes sparkled.

"Blaine! Hurry, the band is finishing up" Santana hurried along and went back on stage.

"I gotta go, but have fun. Go dance with Finn and Quinn. No more shots though."

Kurt just nodded and swayed. Blaine smiled and pecked his cheek.

He rushed back and grabbed his microphone. "All right folks, sorry for the waiting but let's go on with the show" Blaine said.

The music started playing and Santana said, "I wanna see everybody on their feet, come on!"

"Let's get that conga line ready!" Blaine adjusted the mic. Somewhere in the crowd a loud whoop was heard and Santana and Blaine were pretty sure it had been Rachel or perhaps Kurt.

_"Whoa-uh-oh" _Santana started singing.

_"It's always a good time" _Blaine joined in.

_"Woke up on the right side of the bed. What's up with this Prince song inside my head?" _Blaine twirled his index finger around his temple. _"Hands up if you're down to get down tonight.'Cause it's always a good time."_ He pointed to the crowd as the people danced.

_"Good morning and good night._

_I'll wake up at twilight." _Santana sang, looking at the crowd.

_"It's gonna be alright." _They both sang as they looked at each other.

_"We don't even have to try. It's always a good time" _Blaine jumped two times, still gripping the mic stand.

"_Whooo!" _Santana shouted.

_"Whoa-oh-oh, oh-oh-oh, whoa-oh-oh._

_It's always a good time._

_Whoa-oh-oh, oh-oh-oh._

_We don't even have to try, it's always a good time."_

Blaine and Santana danced on stage a simple choreography in the chorus just to get everybody dancing. And it seemed to be working.

_"Doesn't matter when._

_It's always a good time then."_ Blaine pulled the microphone stand to his right, next to Santana.

_"Doesn't matter where._

_It's always a good time there."_ Santana did the same with the mic, only to her left, next to Blaine.

_"Doesn't matter when._

_It's always a good time then."_ Blaine sang and both pulled their stands back where they belonged. They took the mics off the stand and pointed them to the crowd.

_"It's always a good time!"_ The crowd yelled.

Rachel, Artie, Kurt, Finn, Brittany and Quinn were now all together and dancing next to each other. Santana and Blaine could see from the stage that their friends were having a great time and they couldn't help but smile.

_"Whoa-oh-oh, oh-oh-oh, whoa-oh-oh._

_It's always a good time._

_Whoa-oh-oh, oh-oh-oh._

_We don't even have to try,_

_It's always a good time!" _

The Latina and the curly haired boy finished singing and everybody cheered loudly. They high-fived and smiled at each other because they knew that they had killed the song. And overall, they had done a great job with the party. Maybe, just maybe, this could be a long term thing for them both.

* * *

So, the songs. The Brittana duet was "It's all about us" by He is we and Owl City, inspired by my awesome beta who showed me this song. Blaine and Santana's song to the couple is "Everything" by Michael Buble. Blaine's song is "Candy" by Robie Williams, doesn't have to do with anything but I think it would be a great prom song that Darren would kill. And the last one was "Good time" by Owl City and Carly Rae Jepsen. See you next time!


	6. Chapter 6

Chapter 6

Leaving behind October and almost all of November, the six glee club friends found themselves working double hours to earn enough money to go home for Thanksgiving. Santana and Blaine tried to do two weddings per weekend, but there weren't that many weddings. Their business had slowed down and they did one event per month. Fortunately for them, Leo, the bar owner where Santana worked had hired Blaine for a few nights to sing with Santana. But the pay was nowhere as good as a wedding. Being desperate, Blaine walked dogs in Manhattan and Santana babysat a few nights a week. Brittany had picked up as many classes as she could and she volunteered for almost all on the weekend classes but those paid less because they weren't exclusive. Finn started working almost all nights at the pizza place but by the second week of November he knew he wasn't going to make it. Even with the few catering services (_actual _catering services) that he went with Kurt, it wasn't enough. Kurt couldn't find any events on Vogue and the catering services were way too time consuming. The only one who could buy a plane ticket and not break her entire savings, was Rachel. Broadway paid well and she was about to book a flight when she noticed how much the other five were struggling. They could all afford a plane ticket if they used all their savings and if they asked help from their parents, but it wasn't productive. They couldn't keep asking their parents for money every time they needed it. They needed to learn to stand on their own two feet and be truly independent. Buying the tickets and blowing their savings would be like throwing away three months worth of hard work. And working so many hours a week was affecting their classes and they just couldn't loose that as well.

So as Thanksgiving week arrived the five friends decided that they wouldn't make it home for the holiday. Rachel was supportive of their decision and decided that she would stay with them. They all tried to tell her to go but she said no and promised them that they would have a great Thanksgiving. Their first Thanksgiving in New York together. Kurt and Rachel had experience in this department but it was the first time with all six of them being together. And they would try their best to make it the best one yet.

* * *

Thursday arrived and after a night full of phone calls where they all explained to their parents why they weren't going to make it for the day, the spirits were a bit low. They were all sprawled out in the living room, eating cereal out of the box.

"You know what I am not thankful for?" Kurt asked his head on the arm rest of the couch as he laid across it with Blaine and Rachel's legs below him.

"What?" Rachel grumbled stuffing cereal into her mouth.

"For earning almost the minimal wage and working like dogs for a month just so we couldn't even buy a train ticket" Kurt replied sourly.

"Preach" Brittany said her head hanging down the recliner as she sat upside down.

"I'm also not thankful for blowing all of my savings last year with so many trips to Lima, Kentucky and New York" Santana shook her head.

"You could have gone on a train instead of a plane, though" Blaine said.

"Shut it Anderson" Santana glared at her.

"It was all your fault that we had to go to Lima so often" Rachel pointed her finger at Brittany, Blaine and Finn.

"Our fault?" Brittany lifted her eyebrows.

"Yeah, 'cause you kept needing our help to save that sucky glee club" Santana said.

"It wasn't sucky" Finn argued defensively.

"Mmm, Finn, it was. After we graduated it was never the same" Kurt said.

"Oh come on, half of the club was there when you guys were too" Blaine said.

"Yeah but you didn't connect with the newbies like you did with us. Instead of letting you guys sing, you gave all the solos to this Marley chick, who by the way, I don't know who she was kidding when they assigned her as the 'new Rachel'" Rachel complained.

"Hey, I was the 'new Rachel'" Blaine protested.

"Honey, you weren't" Kurt said to him.

"Rachel's arrogance aside" Finn rolled his eyes. "In the club's defense, we did win Nationals again, and yes, maybe we weren't as notoriously spectacular like when it was all of us, but we still were a team. We didn't have that many powerful voices but those guys were _never _as complicated as we were. Specially in our sophomore year" Finn explained.

"They were less diva-ish" Blaine scratched his chin.

"Yeah, up to the level that I had to come and show you all how you needed to be a diva" Santana interjected.

"Well that and to make Britt jealous" Finn said quietly.

"An episode we are all past" Brittany kissed Santana's thigh as her head was now lying on Santana's jeans.

"The point is that, they were good. But not as good as we were" Santana steered the conversation back on topic. They all had to admit that it was true.

"But now the mediocre glee club is in Lima with their families while we're here. Stuck in New York because we can't afford it" Kurt grumbled.

"Berry could, but she's here" Santana said.

"I don't mind. I wanted to be with you guys" Rachel said but her voice lacked sincerity.

"Oh suck it. You could have left so you can't complain" Brittany talked to Rachel.

"I'm not complaining" Rachel said.

"Oh please, you are giving us all your eyes to make us feel guilty" Kurt rolled his eyes.

"Ugh, you guys are being such d-bags right now" Rachel lost her patience. "Since when do I need to apologize for the fact that I make money? I work hard everyday."

"Oh and we don't?" Blaine asked. It surprised Kurt that he had replied Rachel's comment, Blaine was more of the guy that stayed out of trouble, he bet he was pretty annoyed by now.

Rachel interjected. "I didn't say that-"

"It's not our fault either that we don't have doted daddies that pay for everything so the money we earn can be used entirely to spend" Blaine interrupted her.

"What about Kurt? Burt pays for his college and if he didn't go home it was only because he didn't want to ask, not because he can't" Rachel stood up feeling feisty.

"Oh no, leave my dad out of this. I have pride, Rachel, that's why I didn't ask" Kurt sat up facing Rachel.

"Well then don't complain. You all could have asked. No one's _that_ poor." Rachel crossed her arms.

"We have to work double shifts to even make rent and you come up with that shit!?" Santana asked angrily. "Nah, nah I'm gonna tell you how it's all gonna go up your Broadway ass" Santana sat up.

Everybody stared screaming and shouting at each other.

Finn took a deep breath and couldn't believe what was happening.

"SHUT UP!"

Everybody turned and looked at him who seemed to be the only one who was still sitting down. "Shut the _hell _up. If one of you says another word, I swear-"

"You'll do what?" Santana replied aggressively.

"Ugh, Santana just shut up. For once in your life just shut up" Finn said feeling exhausted.

Santana was ready to throw something back but everyone else looked at her so she had no choice than to close her mouth.

"What the hell is wrong with you." Finn said to everybody.

"It's _Thanksgiving_, for god's sake. It sucks that we're stuck here, yes. But just suck it up and be happy. We should be thankful that we are lucky enough to be here together and live in this amazing city with all of these opportunities. We all miss our families, but we're here together and we should be thankful for that. One day we will not be as fortunate as to be like this, so just stop complaining and give thanks that you have a roof to sleep under and food to eat. It's my first Thanksgiving away from home and I want to spend it the best I can. I mean, we are all back together. Last year I never thought I would be back together with Rachel. And I know that Blaine and Kurt or Brittany and Santana thought the same." Finn stood up as the other sat back down. "You guys are my small family and I give thanks everyday that I had the chance to meet you because you shaped me into who I am. So if I hear another word of how you're _not _thankful, I will kick your ass, NYC style. Am I clear?"

Everybody just nodded their heads rapidly.

"Great. So, we have a lot to do! Kurt, Rachel and me will do the cooking. I'll go out to buy the turkey, Kurt you coming?" Kurt nodded and stood up.

"Wait, I'm a vegan, I don't eat turkey" Rachel hurriedly said.

Finn and Kurt looked back at her. "Rachel, it's _Thanksgiving_, people eat turkey" Kurt sighed.

"Just eat salad or something" Finn proposed.

"Ugh, fine" Rachel accepted rolling her eyes.

"Ok so we're off. The rest of you, start doing what you can for the meal with what we have in here and set the table" Finn put on his coat and beanie while Kurt tightened his scarf.

"Brittany and Santana, help Blaine and Rachel. No lady kisses until dinner is ready" Finn pointed his finger at them.

"But I like San's sweet lady kisses" Brittany pouted.

"Shut your gravy hole Finn, you don't tell me what to do" Santana shot back.

"Well, it was worth a shot" Finn looked at Kurt who shrugged. "We're off. Get everything ready" Finn warned and left the apartment with Kurt.

"I'll start pre-heating the oven" Blaine stood up and went towards the kitchen.

"I'll see what we have in the fridge" Rachel did as she said.

While they were busy in the kitchen, Brittany patted Santana's knee. "Hey, c'mon it'll be fun. Let's go get dressed" Brittany stood up and took Santana's hand as they went into their room.

* * *

"Rach, are those vegetables cooked?" Blaine asked, his hands busy as he mashed some potatoes.

"Umm, not yet. Let's give them a few more minutes" Rachel replied stirring the water in the pot.

The door was opened and Brittany entered holding a bag. Kurt and Finn had gone all the way to Manhattan to look for more things since Bushwick's market didn't have the quality turkey, Kurt desired. Since Rachel and Blaine needed some things to start working, Brittany had gone to the store to get some things.

"Hey, so, they didn't have organic sugar, but I did find your special pumpkins for the pie" Britt said putting the grocery bag on the table.

"Ok thanks" Rachel peeked inside the bag.

"Is the special pumpkins, like _special_?" Brittany asked.

"What do you mean?" Blaine said.

"Like _special _brownies" Britt raised her eyebrows.

"Umm no. They are just organic, they're produced in an environment without toxins or chemicals" Rachel explained.

"So they won't make me see the couch as a giant talking alligator?" Brittany asked.

"No. I'm pretty sure those are _special _mushrooms" Blaine adverted his eyes.

"Dang it" Brittany said disappointed.

Rachel just shook her head and looked at Blaine.

"Is Santana in the bathroom?"

"No, she's in her room" Blaine replied.

"Ok, well I'll tell her to come and help you" Brittany walked towards their room and closed the curtain.

"Hey" Santana smiled as she was on her computer.

"What you doing?" Britt asked as she took off her shoes and snuggled next to Santana. She kissed her temple and pulled her closer.

"I'm looking at NYU programs" Santana replied.

"Programs for what?" The blonde asked confused.

"Music programs. They have some pretty cool classes."

"Santana, are you considering enrolling in college again?"

"I don't know. Maybe. Would it be completely crazy?" Santana turned her head a little so she could see Brittany.

"Not at all. Why would it be crazy."

"Because I dropped out of college and moved here and I seem to have everything under control. And all of a sudden I want to study again?" Santana said looking straight forward.

"There's nothing wrong in wanting an education. It has always been important to you. You're so talented that you should study something to enforce the skills you already have."

Santana stayed quiet as Brittany talked softly next to her ear. "I've seen you grab Blaine's guitar when he's not around and try to figure out how to play it."

Santana blushed embarrassed. "You have?"

"Yeah, and I think it's wonderful. If you are already such a good singer why not play an instrument, it will open many doors for you" Brittany said.

Santana exhaled, "Ah this is just so crazy. I don't know where to even start".

"We'll figure it out. I'll help you. Don't stress yourself out. We still have time" Brittany said sweetly.

"Thank you" Santana turned in her arms so her forehead was resting on Brittany's cheek.

"I don't know what I would do without you."

"I don't know either" Brittany smiled and Santana laughed.

"I love you, Britt-Britt."

"And I love you."

Santana pecked her lips and leaned her head against the blonde's as she wrapped her arms around her waist.

* * *

"So glad we found that sale at the market. Otherwise the turkey would have been three times more expensive" Finn said as he gripped the overhead handle of the subway tightly to avoid falling when the subway shifted.

"We were lucky to even find a turkey four hours before dinnertime" Kurt said.

"Come on, it's gonna be great. Stop being such a sourpuss" Finn chuckled as he punched his arm playfully.

"Why are you so chipper? I don't get it. Lima is your place, I know you were looking forward to be there" Kurt looked up at his brother.

"I was, I'm not gonna lie, but I'm happy to be here. I know Burt and my mom are pissed that they're gonna spend Thanksgiving alone, but at least I'm with you. They can't be that mad 'cause they know we're together." Kurt remained silent as the doors of the subway opened and people exited and entered.

"Last year it sucked not being with Rachel and that I was the only one at Lima that had graduated. But I missed you too, man. A lot actually. You're my little brother and I missed your advice and your awful comments about my wardrobe" he laughed as Kurt chuckled.

"Honestly, I'm just glad that I can spend this day with my family. Our parents may not be here, but you're my brother. And Rachel and those guys are my family too. Therefore, I'm ok. I'm happy because I know I'm not alone." Finn looked at the window of the subway car.

Kurt looked at him for a moment and then smiled. "I missed you too, Finn. I'm glad you're here."

Finn smiled and Kurt patted his broad shoulder.

* * *

When Kurt and Finn arrived the oven was ready and they just had to prepare the turkey. Santana and Brittany had worked on some yams and the salad, while Finn and Blaine handled the mash potatoes and the stuffing for the turkey. Finn had also helped Santana set up the table and Kurt focused on the turkey so it didn't get burnt even after Blaine's failed attempt to notice that the turkey wasn't ready yet. While it was still cooking, Brittany and Rachel had finished the pumpkin pie and would put it in the oven after the turkey was ready so that it would cook while they had dinner.

They were just bringing all the food over when Finn came holding the big turkey and placed it on the table.

"And...there. It's ready."

They all stood and stared the table for a second.

"I can't believe we pulled it off" Santana said.

"Yeah, considering we decided to have Thanksgiving five hours ago" Rachel added.

"Well then lets all have a seat" Blaine said and everybody obeyed.

Finn sat at the head of the table with Rachel to his right. Blaine sat next to her with Kurt on the other end of the table, while Santana sat in front of Blaine and Brittany next to Finn.

"Who would like some wine?" Kurt asked holding up a bottle of red.

"Ooh alcohol, me!" Santana held her glass and Kurt served her.

They all wanted some so their glasses were all filled. Once their plates were all full, they all looked at the feast upon them with devouring eyes. Grabbing their forks and almost putting them in their mouths, Finn suddenly sat up.

"Wait! No, don't eat!" Santana and Rachel who had their forks midair, stopped and looked at him baffled. Kurt hadn't started eating yet so he just stared back. However, Blaine and Brittany spit up the mouthful as the others judged them with their stare.

"Oh my god! Is there something in the food?" Blaine asked alarmed looking between the un-chewed food mixed with his saliva.

"Am I gonna die?" Brittany asked, panic in her face.

"What?" Kurt asked.

"Is someone trying to poison us?"

"Brittany, _we _cooked the food" Rachel replied patiently.

"So you're saying one of us did it?!" Brittany asked even more panicked now.

"No, baby, nobody poisoned us. But I don't understand why, why aren't we allowed to eat?" Santana asked after she assured her girlfriend.

"Ok look. Nobody poisoned us and there is nothing in the food. I just want to say a few things before we eat" Finn explained himself. Santana and Kurt rolled their eyes but he carried on nonetheless. He stood up and cleared his throat as he faced them.

"I know this day is a very special tradition we all consider very important. And that because of that, how this day turned out, was nothing like we planned it. I know you all had better plans and that you all wanted to be with your families. We all live here together but holidays, were never our thing. Holidays are meant to be celebrated with family. And you're right, it should be celebrated with family." He took a second as everyone listened attentively.

"Growing up, my mom and I were always alone on the holidays. I didn't have a dad to go buy the tree at Christmas and for Thanksgiving my mom would always go buy the 10 pound turkey even if she knew that most of it would be left over since we were only two at the table. Even though we were this little broken family, my mom always tried her best to make me see that holidays and traditions were important. You can imagine how sad I felt when I knew that it was going to be my first Thanksgiving without her. But I had to adapt. Four years ago, Burt and Kurt joined us, and for the first time, my little broken family, didn't feel so broken."

Blaine took Kurt's hand and he smiled at him.

"So I adapted. And when I realized how this day was going to be like I knew I had to make the best of it. We could have stayed lumping on the couch eating cereal all day feeling like crap that our day hadn't worked out. Yet, here we are. We cooked an entire meal from scratch and managed to get it ready on time. We did it together, and I am very thankful that we made it."

Rachel looked at Santana who smiled just one tiny bit, even if she tried not to.

"This year has been very big on changes but most of them have been good ones, and I am thankful for them. I am thankful that I found my place in this world and that I can follow my dreams while getting to live in freaking New York. And to top it off, I get to live with my best friends. We all came from different places and Glee Club brought us all together because we shared something in common. I thank Quinn's jealousy that brought you two into the club" Finn said to Brittany and Santana.

"And that because of that, the football players followed too. I thank Kurt for meeting Blaine and giving me another bro" Blaine grinned at him.

"I thank Mr. Schue's illegal attempt to plant weed in my bag to get me to join Glee Club, 'cause I met you, Rachel" his eyes focused on her.

"I met you and you made me see who I really was and made me believe in myself. You made me see that I could be the difference and because of it, I became happier than I had ever been." Rachel's eyes watered and she smiled at him.

"We became this little, broken family and that is why today, doesn't feel that far away from home. Even if we're in the biggest city of the world and a million people pass you by, you can feel really alone. But I don't because I have you. You are my family and even though we fight and argue all the time, you managed to make me happy everyday. And for that I am very thankful. You make me feel at home even when we're a thousand miles away. So thank you for being here and for staying and for helping put this whole thing together. Thank you for listening to this long-ass speech-" they all chuckled.

"Thank you for being my best friends and my family and for forming part of making my dreams come true. So, happy Thanksgiving" he said and lifted his glass of wine as everybody mimicked his action.

"Cheers." They all met their glass and said it too.

Finn sat back down, "Now you can say your witty comments about how much pain you had to suffer listening to my ridiculous speech, Santana".

Santana blinked, "I'm not gonna say anything. Because contrary to your belief, you are my family too and I'm glad that I could spend it with you all". She smiled and Finn looked at her surprised. "But I will probably need to get my teeth checked after all that sweetness" Santana smirked.

"There it is" Finn laughed.

"It wouldn't be a tradition without them" Blaine smiled.

"Ok, so now can we please eat?" Kurt asked.

"I'm not gonna grow a plant inside of me if I eat it, right?" Brittany said.

"No you won't Britt" Finn laughed. "We can all eat now" he said and everybody dug in. They shared a beautiful meal with big smiles on their faces.

* * *

"No! You have to answer the question!" Rachel shrieked.

"It's an awful question" Santana whined.

"Just answer it" Kurt laughed.

"Fine, alright." Santana conceded. "What I am most thankful for this year is...Getting to have a job where I can do what I love most and for making me see that I can do it and that someday I will be known for it" Santana said sincerely.

"I'm also thankful to have found a great singing partner who makes the lame jobs we sometimes get, way more fun" Santana said and Blaine smiled back at her not really believing her sincere words.

"I'm thankful for getting to sing with you too Santana. And I hope we will for a very long time. I am also thankful for getting to share an apartment with all you dorks" Blaine said laughing.

"Oh come on, you love us!" Brittany laughed too.

"How about you Britt?" Finn asked.

"I'm thankful that I left MIT because if I hadn't I wouldn't have gotten to live my dream of becoming a dancer and finding San again" Brittany took Santana's hand and squeezed it.

"Yeah, I paid her to say that" Santana giggled as she leaned into her girlfriend.

"You two are way too cute" Rachel smiled.

"You Rachel?" Santana asked.

"I'm definitely thankful that I got the part in _Funny Girl_ because I never thought I would actually make it on Broadway. I knew I would try but I just thought it was a dream that was too high to reach" Rachel said.

"Oh come on, if there was one person that was going to make it on Broadway it was you" Kurt told her. Everybody nodded.

"I for one am thankful for Vogue's fall collection because it is off the hook!" Blaine rolled his eyes but smiled.

"And for having all of you here too?" Kurt offered.

"Nice try" Finn said.

"Wait, no I have something." Kurt said. "I am thankful for having the best brother in the whole world, because if it hadn't been for him, we would have never had, honestly, one of the best Thanksgivings of our lives. So thank you, Finn. You really are the man" Kurt finished.

Finn gave him his special crooked smile as Rachel kissed him on his cheek. "I love you guys" Finn said.

"Come one, group hug!" Brittany said loudly.

Huddled in a tight hug everybody knew that it had been a great day.

* * *

Kurt closed the curtain of their room as Blaine was getting under the covers.

"I lied."

"About what?" Blaine asked.

"About what I was most thankful for" Kurt replied.

"You did?"

Kurt climbed on the bed with him, "I did. What I am most thankful for, and not only this year, is to have met you".

Blaine's eyes sparkled.

"You were my prince in shinning armor and I am so lucky to have found you."

Blaine took a second and found his hand. "You really are wonderful" the curly haired boy said. "And I love you for that."

Kurt smiled and kissed him. "I love you too."

* * *

"No, Rachel, it's late. Where are we going?" Finn asked as Rachel kept trying to put his scarf around his neck.

"Will you just trust me?" Rachel asked.

"But it's cold outside" Finn whined.

"Then put on the scarf and it'll keep you warm" Rachel insisted.

Finn exhaled, "Fine. But this better be good".

"It will, c'mon" Rachel dragged him out the door.

* * *

"I knew I'd find you here" Brittany said on the last step of the staircase to the roof.

"Hi" Santana said.

"It's cold, aren't you cold?" Brittany said walking to where Santana was sitting.

"A little bit yeah" Santana admitted.

"Here, this will warm us up" Brittany extended a blanket over their backs and Santana snuggled closer. Brittany rubbed her arm up and down to get Santana warmed up. "What are you doing up here?"

"I wanted to see the view before I went to sleep" the Latina responded. "You know, I am also thankful for this view. There is something about it that makes all your problems seem very small."

"Are you still bummed about not seeing your parents?" Brittany asked softly.

"A little" she accepted.

"I'm sorry, I knew how much you wanted to see them."

"Yeah, ever since May I haven't seen them. But don't worry, this day turned out to be great" Santana said.

"It really was. And I'm here to make your day even better" Brittany kissed her cold cheek.

"You already do. And not just my day, but all my life. I am _very_ thankful for you." Santana met their foreheads together. Brittany didn't respond but kissed her instead.

"Oh look it's starting to snow" Santana said.

"Ahh" Brittany gasped. "It's so beautiful."

"It is" Santana said looking at Brittany rather than the snow.

* * *

"You are aware that it's going to be midnight in like 10 minutes, right?" Finn asked as they walked in Central Park.

"Yeah, thanks for telling me, grandpa" Rachel snickered.

"I just don't get why we had to come all the way to Manhattan to walk in the cold" Finn said with his hands buried in his coat's pockets.

"Where is your sense of adventure?"

"Sleeping under the warm blankets of the apartment" Finn replied.

"Stop being so testy" Rachel told him as they turned right on the path.

"I feel like that time when you dragged me to the park in the middle of the night in junior year, to connect with your spirituality" Finn said.

Rachel laughed remembering the memory, "No, this is nothing like that. I promise". They walked for a minute in silence.

"Wait" Finn stopped.

"I know this place." He had been so distracted grumbling about wanting to go back home that he didn't realize where they were headed. He looked up and saw that a few feet away, stood the Bow Bridge.

"You do" Rachel agreed.

"I haven't been here since-"

"Since when we came to New York for Nationals. I know, I haven't been here since then too" Rachel finished for him.

"Really? You've been living here for a while."

"Yeah I know, but this was always our place and it didn't feel right to come without you" Rachel patted his chest affectionately as she faced him.

Finn smiled, "Why are we here?".

"The last time we were here it was really special because it was when I realized that you and I would always come back to each other. And it was true, so I thought I'd bring you here today."

Rachel smiled, "What you did today was amazing and it made me realize how much I love you. Because you're a man of actions and you made us all get over ourselves and made today, an absolute great day. So thank you, for that."

"I'm really glad you stayed here" Finn placed his hands on her waist.

"I was actually planning on buying you a ticket too, but I knew that you wouldn't want that. And I'm glad I didn't because this way I got to spend an awesome Thanksgiving with all those dorks over there, and most importantly with you."

"We could have spent it anywhere, for all I cared, and it would had still been great just because I was with you" Finn hugged her closer.

"I love you" Rachel bumped her forehead with his.

"I love you too" Finn smiled and kissed her.

"Happy Thanksgiving, Finn."

"Happy Thanksgiving."

The first snowflakes started falling and covered their hats and coats. The edge of the bridge was glazed with white as the street lights of the park guided the way of the falling snow. It looked beautiful and it was just the perfect way of ending a perfect day.

* * *

A/N: Hey, sorry I didn't get it by Monday but I didn't write that much on the weekend. Give me like two weeks for the next one since it's gonna be slightly larger, and also I'm starting school Wednesday so bare with me please. I hoped that I would have finished this story before school started but I couldn't so, it will be a few more weeks. I'm not planning on leaving it but maybe I'll shorten it just because of time troubles. But it will still get a happy ending, so don't worry. No songs on this one, I couldn't think of a song with a Thanksgiving theme haha. Please leave a review and recommend it if you like.

On another note. Can we just all take a moment to admire the fucking person that Lea Michele is. I can't believe how strong she is. I cried like a baby with her speech and I was just blown away with how she handled it. She has become my only reason to keep suffering on everything that Glee means. She will always be my favorite actress and I'm so thankful that Rachel Berry got to be played by her. And as she said, with her love we will get through this. so, this chapter is dedicated to Lea, because I'm thankful for her.

See you later folks, thanks for reading it!


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